Rising
by The Atomic Cafe
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, the Wizarding World falls into disrepair. People are dead, some are dying, Death Eaters still roam free, and Harry Potter is dying. COMPLETE.
1. Aftermath

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates.**_

_War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. _

_- John Stuart Mill_

Remus woke to the sound of a humming murmuring around the soft bed. Opening his eyes, he saw white blankets nestled around his body. His arms felt too weak to push the cotton away, so he glanced over them.

A crowd of people walked around the room, talking to each other in low, worried voices, some holding bottles, others grasping hands of others in beds.

"Remus?" hissed a voice in his ear. Wincing from the sudden noise, Remus moved his head enough to see Hermione. Her appearance shocked him. The seventeen year old, already with a lanky scholars' body and a worried expression half the time, looked even more so. Her brow seemed permanently knitted in concern. Several scratches marred her face, ruining the pale skin.

"Good to see you, Hermione," he answered, feeling his throat scratch. She smiled at him, only slightly, eyes looking rather wet as she grabbed his limp hand.

"I'm glad you're alive," she managed, voice sounding rather choked. Remus just sighed and remained still, not wanting to move again. "The fight is over," she told him, biting the inside of her cheek for a moment.

Noticing her awkward expression, Remus quickly asked, "How is everyone?"

Her eyes trailed to the ground, not daring to look at his face. Remus could see the entire answer by her face. "We won," she whispered, voice flat. "But - but we lost some people." She started on the list, which seemed to go on for ages. Tonks went missing; no one could find a body, as with several Death Eaters. Every one assumed the Death Eaters went to Azkaban. Most of the deaths took place among the younger set of people: Neville, Luna, Fred, George, and others. Hermione seemed to know all of them perfectly well just off the top of her head. Some of them, the adults, Remus knew well himself. Charlie took a Killing Curse. Kingsley fell, though no one knew what curse did it.

"What happened to Harry?" Remus asked, noticing Hermione said nothing about him. "He's alive, by the way you're talking -"

At the mention of Harry, Hermione burst into tears. Remus sat up suddenly, letting Hermione move into him, holding his robes to her face and she continued to cry. Through the tears, Remus heard a whispered, "He's - alive -"

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Remus soothed, though Hermione's crying doubled there. He saw Madam Pomfrey stop and glance at them. Still holding the tray of potions in her hands, she edged near to Remus and whispered in his ear.

"You might want to see him for yourself."

Letting Hermione sit on the bed, Remus crawled out from under the sheets, feeling the cold air hit him like shards of glass. His clothing, somehow changed to pajamas, did not stop the air from brushing around his skin and giving him goose pimples.

Madam Pomfrey motioned to the direction of a bed surrounded in curtains. Remus slowly pulled the curtains back, the white fabric moving easily on the metal bars. He wished he had braced himself for it before.

Harry lie on the bed, green eyes open, breathing deeply. His skin did not remain, but only a charred remainder of flesh. Muscle showed through the broken fragments of skin, crackled and drying. His mouth moved for a moment before a word came out.

"Professor?" he asked, then stopped talking immediately, taking in large swallows of air as though speaking cost him all of his strength.

"Harry…" Remus could not force another word out. An exact model of James lie before him, burned beyond recognition. His hairline reached far behind, showing off more charred skin. "God, Harry -"

"It's not too bad," Harry whispered, the muscle around his lips stretching out of place. Remus soon realized it as a smile. "I guess I shouldn't have stayed so close to Voldemort when he died."

"I'm proud of you, Harry," Remus answered, clasping a hand to the unmarked shoulder. Harry smiled again, teeth showing. "We all are."

"Good."

They exchanged small talk until Remus could no longer bear to look at Harry on the bed, obviously in pain. He excused himself, lying that he should help the others heal, but it sounded too cheery to his own ears for Harry to believe. The boy merely nodded and closed his eyes again, breathing deeply.

The first person he saw in a bed was Ginny. Her red hair flared out around her face, creating a strange frame around the cheekbones Remus could see too clearly.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, bending down over her bed. She glanced at him, nodding. "No, you're now. What's wrong, Ginny?"

She just smiled, causing tears to run down her cheeks. Remus sat on the edge of the bed, taking her shoulders and letting her, just as Hermione did, cry on his shoulder.

"Harry asked me to marry him." She creaked out another smile, just a short one, before wiping her eyes.

Remus blinked. "I'm happy for you two."

"The only thing is, they just told me -" Ginny gulped and wiped her eyes even more frantically. "He'll be dead within days, if he even manages to live that long."

Remus' heart froze when he heard the words and numbness filled his chest and throat. Ginny seemed to notice his loosening grip and moved away from him, only slightly looking into his eyes.

"I - I still love him, though," she murmured. "We're getting married, and it's final."

Remus did not have the heart to tell Ginny that her short-lived marriage could only end in pain and agony. Her face had a light to it that Remus had not seen her with since before Voldemort's rising. Her smile looked genuine when she spoke about it.

"I'm glad," he managed, letting her burrow into his chest, almost hugging him. He patted her head slightly, allowing his fingers to comb out the knots in her hair from dirt during the battle.

"He couldn't have even asked an hour ago," she told him joyfully. Remus did not answer. "It's going to be a really small wedding, I think." Ginny looked Remus in the eye. "In fact, I suppose I'm already married to him now. There was never really a need for all of the ceremonies, was there?" she asked Remus. "It's about love."

After talking more with Ginny and untangling himself from her hugging grasp, Remus made his way to Madam Pomfrey, gently taking the tray from her hands and following her around, letting her hands work twice as fast. It seemed amazing, how many people needed healing after the war. Remus recognized most of the faces, and he knew he could recognize the others if it had not been for the scars marring half of their faces like with Hermione.

He knew nothing of Tonks' current state. No matter whom he asked, every answered the same: We haven't seen her. His heart sunk lower and lower into his stomach until he reached Sturgis Podmore.

Azkaban, even in a six month dose and no more, did nothing to help the man. His eyes looked sunken and laced with fright constantly and his hair hung lank around his face, starting to grey early. "I think she's dead, mate," he answered quietly as he joined Remus is walking around the help the others. "I'm sorry." He left soon after to walk around in the opposite direction of Remus.

His heart rose slightly, though he still felt dead. At least she could not be suffering anymore. He would have preferred having her alive. He never had the chance to really speak to her. For the past year, they continued seeing each other, though it never seemed like enough. At least her hair returned to pink, though.

To distract himself from thinking anymore about Tonks and everyone who died on the battlefield, he walked up to Madam Pomfrey, asking her in a hushed voice, "How long does Harry have?" It did not seem like much of an improvement from his previous thoughts. Ginny only said a few days. He did not want to find Harry's death a surprise.

The tired woman's bitter laugh died shortly after leaving her lips. "I wouldn't have even thought this long." Biting her lip, she answered very slowly, "Remus, don't expect more than a day or two, and that's if he's lucky. His skin would be impossible to fix without it either being less work or with a sooner timeframe, but we missed that by far."

The worst could always be expected. Remus nodded once, but Madam Pomfrey seemed to see the words before they even formed.

"At least we won the war, Remus," she whispered. "I think that's all that mattered to him."

Remus wanted to argue. Winning the war was not the only thing Harry cared about in his life. He cared about Quidditch and Ginny and the Weasleys and Hermione and -

Shaking his head, Remus continued to follow her around, carrying the tray in his arms. If Harry had only been found sooner….

"Oi! Remus?" came a voice from his side. Remus turned to find Ron standing near a wall, leaning on it for support. Two black eyes made his face easy to see. He leaned heavily on one crutch, too, and reached out with an arm, then took a cautious step forward. "Is that you?"

Remus glanced into the blue eyes for a moment and answered slowly, "Yes."

Ron's face lit up. "Glad I found you. Is Hermione anywhere around here?"

Glancing to the side, Remus saw Hermione standing not even ten feet away. At the mention of her name, she turned and glanced at the two. She seemed to understand what happened, so she slowly walked forward.

"She's next to you, Ron," he answered. "Are you feeling alright?"

"He was hit by some curse. We can't discover which one to heal with yet. He's blind," Hermione murmured, reached up and rubbing Ron's shoulder. His face turned towards her and he smiled.

Feeling rather idiotic, Remus just nodded. "I'm sorry, Ron. No idea what it was?"

"No," he answered. Shrugging, he added, "It's not bad, either. Most likely permanent, but at least -" He broke off.

"You can't see Harry," Remus whispered numbly.

Ron gave a half-shrug as though ashamed to admit it. "It's rude, but it's true."

"It's understandable. No one wants to see Harry in that much pain. Have you spoken to him?"

"Of course," Ron answered. "He told me about what happened at the end of the war. I couldn't see anything, I could only hear." His face whitened. "What does he look like? What happened to him?"

Glancing at Hermione, Remus silently asked her how much he could tell Ron. She answered for him. "He's doing fine, Ron. Don't worry now. Everything will sort itself out in the end."

He just nodded, brow furrowed. Hermione led him away again, giving Remus a quick look that told him to stay still. She returned after leaving Ron with Ginny.

"I don't want to be the one to tell him," she muttered, walking with Remus to the doors at the end of the room. It seemed crowded inside, and the cool air that hit their faces once outside seemed refreshing. "I mean, how can you tell a person that their best friend is…"

Remus nodded, glancing at the soft layer of snow starting to cover the ground. Still early in the year, he knew the weather would slowly become colder. He wished he had brought a cloak with him but realized that the only one there would be was the one he wore during the battle, which had to be bloodstained and torn beyond recognition.

"I think we should just wait a while with Ron. He'll have to find out eventually, right?" Hermione asked. Her voice sounded weak and thin, unsure of what to say next. "Even if it's too late then."

"We should wait a few days at least," Remus answered, staring at the tops of the trees that drifted closer into his view.

He refused to mention that this was not a choice made by the chance that Ron would discover the truth himself, but a false sort of hope that Harry would recover. It seemed selfish to him; Harry was the only person he really had left. Everyone already died or slowly started their journey to death inside that room. He heard nothing of Severus, who seemed to have crawled his way back to their side during the battle rather than before. Tonks was dead for sure. It seemed impossible that she could last long with whoever had her.

Hermione leaned into Remus and he felt the cold, pale skin on his arm. One of her arms wrapped around the nearest arm and he could see clearly that she had started to cry again.

"Nothing's changed!" she stormed, kicking a small amount of snow from the ground, causing small flakes to drift back to the ground. "The war is over, but everything's worse! Have you seen anything outside of the castle lately?"

Remus shook his head, trying to remember even hearing of some sort of news. Hermione glanced at him, and then said, "Oh! You've been unconscious for the past day or two. I forgot. Anyway - I've gotten to go outside a few times and read through the newspaper, or the amount of one still being printed. Everything is a disaster area. People are panicking now more than when Voldemort had actually been alive." She snorted sourly. "There's no more organization. The Ministry is run ragged with all of the Dark Marks appearing. I have no clue how they're doing it. Why would the Death Eaters keep killing people for Voldemort if he's gone?"

It took Remus all of his self-control to not point out how the first war ended. Hermione was too young, he reminded himself. She had no clue of the deaths that happened even so long after the end. They never really ended; they only drifted on into the second war.

"Are you feeling alright?" Hermione asked. Remus started and saw her staring him down as he stared off into space. "You took a beating during the war."

Remus shrugged, shivering slightly in the cold. Hermione smiled slightly. "You can't remember a thing, can you?" When Remus shook his head, she answered, "We guessed so. I think you had a Memory Charm or two on you. Not too strong of ones, of course. Just enough to act as a stun." Her smile seemed pressed as she finished. "I think we got lucky. Neither of us is going to suffer long-term problems. The others… Have you spoken to Professor Snape lately?"

Shaking his head, Remus remembered how he had wondered about the Potions Mater's health. "What happened to him?" _Whatever it was, he deserved it._

"Got hit by a Severing Charm or something in the back. Didn't get to the skin, really, only faintly. I think it cut something in his spine, though, because we can't get his legs to move at all. It'll be like that forever, we think."

Remus regretted his ill thoughts towards the man. "No chance of recovery?"

Hermione shook her head. "Greyback - that werewolf - took Bill on for a while, too. Seemed to want to finish his work from last year…. After he finished with you, at least."

Cocking his head, Remus asked, "Finishing with me?"

Raising her eyebrows, Hermione stared at him. "He was trying to kill you half of the battle, I think. Almost did, really." She motioned to his arm. Remus glanced and saw bandages lining his arm and half of his torso that had not caught his eye before.

"I didn't see that," he murmured, raising his sleeve. All of his skin that had not been covered with the white linen looked rather purple and green, puffy angrily.

"It'll be healed soon," Hermione answered. "You managed to get him off before long. I think he died at some point. Malfoy misaimed a spell or something and Greyback was hit by it. It's all going downhill, I think. Too many deaths still going on, as if the casualties weren't enough for them."

They reached the forest at last and Hermione peered through the branches before turning around. "It looks so empty. Even Centaurs suffered some deaths from it. We're just dragging everyone into it. It's all our faults."

"It's not all of our faults, Hermione," Remus answered sternly. "It's Voldemort's fault. He started all of this in the first place."

Hermione did not answer, but murmured something about being cold. Remus led her back to the front hall of the school, the welcoming warmth spreading over their cold bodies. Hermione smiled at him, a thin-lipped smile that said nothing of her thoughts, and walked to the Gryffindor Tower where she said some people decided to sit around rather than in the stuffy hospital.

Remus left her at the staircase and found himself wandering off down another set of stairs to the dungeons. He did not know why he chose the path, but soon found someone else sitting down there.

A faint light came from the crack under a door. Remus walked over, placing an ear near the door, listening for any sort of noise. Only a faint buzzing could be heard.

Knocking, Remus found the buzzing sound to stop only a moment later, along with the sound of someone placing something down.

"Who's there?" asked a grumpy voice. Remus responded with his name and found the voice reply, even more grudgingly, "Come in."

Severus Snape sat on a bed, legs stretched out before him, a small book in one hand. Remus saw the remnants of spilled ink on the hands that held the book and smiled. The buzzing sound sounded familiar now - _Muffliato. _

"What do you want, Lupin?" Severus asked, giving Remus a cold glare.

"I heard you were injured," Remus replied lightly, glancing at the man. He could tell Severus wanted to stand up and wring his throat. _There is one good side to this._

"I thought that would be obvious," Severus snapped, pressing his lips together in an angry line. "I was not with the rest of them, was I?"

"Are you feeling alright?" Remus asked, lightening his voice, hoping Severus would give him a chance to stay for a while. No one in the hospital that he could speak to felt the same as Severus. The man may have been injured as the rest of them were, but Severus made it sound like a temporary delay in life.

"Of course," he answered, grinding his teeth together. "I thought that would be obvious, too. Otherwise, I would not be speaking to you and instead try to heal myself."

"Good."

"What - do - you - want?" Severus asked again.

Remus shook his head slightly, leaning on the door. "Everyone else in unconscious right now and… it's lonely up there."

"Don't you have that wretched Metamorphagus woman to speak to? You seem unusually fond of her, even though, may I remind you, she is thirteen years your junior."

Remus could only guess that Severus read everything he wanted to say in the way his head tilted up only slightly but his eyes stayed down.

Severus' mouth closed again, and then opened, looking shocked. "Is she -?"

"She's missing. Possibly even dead. No one could find her anywhere after the battle."

Severus glanced down at the book in his hands. "At least now you won't be thinking perverted thoughts about a child."

Remus felt his jaw snap slightly as he restrained himself from yelling. "I suppose I could not think anything better of your thoughts," he replied coldly. "You are not the type to bother thinking of anyone other than yourself for a change."

Remus turned to leave, but heard Severus call after him, "Lupin!" When he stopped, hand on the door handle, Severus murmured, "Stay."

"I'm not a dog to be ordered around, contrary to your opinion." Remus felt his anger boil a bit as he answered.

"You're - I'm - I apologize," Severus muttered. Remus felt as though he lapsed into permanent shock. Severus apologizing? "She did not deserve it. I know she's alive, however."

"How?" Remus turned back to Severus. Even if the man acted like a prat, he knew things Remus would otherwise never hear of.

"The Dark Lord commanded that, during anymore battles, to never kill the ones with… special abilities. That included you, Black, Nymphadora -"

"They killed Sirius anyway," Remus hissed, his anger starting to rise again.

Severus shook his head. "Bellatrix was not rewarded for that at all, let me tell you. The Dark Lord was very disappointed. As much as I hated Black, he… his ability could have aided us - them."

"Am how would I have?" Remus asked sourly. "Being a werewolf is not something that acts as a good minion tool."

"The Dark Lord was attracted to blood-thirsty beasts, in case Greyback did not already prove that," Severus muttered. He caught Remus' eye and added, "That was not the entire ability. You could have made the perfect spy. You can perform Legilimency, am I right? Not as skillful as Occlumency, but still a skill he values. No one would ever suspect you, either. You seem too loyal to Dumbledore."

"I still am," Remus responded, looking down at Severus. The book in the dark-haired man's hands moved as he toyed around with the cover. "What is it with that book, anyway?"

"It's something to write it," Severus answered in a tone that indicated his refusal to mention anything more of it.

"I could guess that," Remus muttered.

"How is Potter, the ungrateful - How's Potter?"

"It's Harry," Remus told him, frowning. "Honestly. I would have thought being his teacher for six years would allow you the ability to refer to him by his proper name."

"You're not answering my question. How is the boy?"

Remus bit his lip before answering. It felt final to mention it again. If he could have lied about it to assure Harry's life, he would have. "He'll be dead by the end of the few days' time."

"What happened?" Severus asked, using his arms to prop himself up more, looking urgently at Remus' face.

"I've only seen him. I don't know how it happened, but half of his body is rather… burned up."

Severus swore, glancing at the opposite wall for a moment. Remus did not see any sign of sadness from Severus, but severe disappointment.

"What?" he asked rudely.

"The Dark Lord had to of…" Severus shook his head. "Just a horrid way to go."

Remus wondered whether he spoke of Voldemort of Harry, and could only answer, "Personally, I think any death would be too good for him. He's a murderer."

"Even a murderer could have died more peacefully. I'm guessing he caught on fire before dying."

"I said I don't know," Remus answered, leaning on the door again. "I was unconscious then, too. I think almost everyone was."

Severus nodded. "Who else died?"

"Plenty of people," Remus whispered, his eyes trailing back to the ground. He did not want to talk about the casualties right then. It still seemed too raw. "Mainly students. They fought our war for us. Barely any of the Order fell."

It was a lie. One death was enough to count as too many. Severus seemed to understand, however. He just nodded again and opened the small book. Grabbing a quill, he jotted down something quickly.

"What are you writing in there?" Remus asked again. Severus did not look up until he finished writing.

"If I told you it was a recording of my life, would you accept it?" Severus muttered sarcastically.

"Fine," Remus answered. "You can go with that and I'll believe you. It's just that you had a spell on the door so that no one could hear in. It's not as though we can hear you write, Severus."

He paled, though seemed to regain his composure flawlessly. "I wanted to read it aloud to see how it sounded."

"I heard stories about Quirrel being here a few years ago. He had Voldemort on the back of his head and spoke to him. I'm hoping you don't have anything equally bad under your hair." Remus smiled as he spoke, giving Severus a joking look.

Severus did not answer, but closed the book, laying the quill down next to the inkbottle.

"I would like to speak to Minerva," he said slowly, "if she's anywhere around."

"I'll try to find her. I can't make any promises, though," Remus answered, leaving silently.


	2. Invitation

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates. Please do not sue me for borrowing them for a while.**_

_**Author's Notes: You think I would leave this story? Of course not! I have ten chapters planned out! I love writing novel-length fan fictions, and this is number three. On another funny note, I believe I have exactly fifty fan fictions done. Wow. Time flies when you're having fun. I felt generous, too, and churned out another chapter in one day. Oh, yeah! Hope you enjoy this.**_

_Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. _

_- Sir Winston Churchill_

Minerva, as it turned out, remained in the Hospital Wing with most of the others. Remus had to take a while to find her as she rounded the room, looking as though she ought to be in those beds rather than some of the others. One of her arms remained in a cast, though she assured Remus that her arm was healed and it only needed to cast to settle correctly. Remus easily read the pained expression on her marked face.

"Where is Severus?" she asked, following Remus from the room. Her hair managed to escape the usual bun and fell, curled and matted around her shoulders. She kept brushing it away angrily as though angry at letting herself leave it down.

"He's in the dungeons, like usual," Remus answered, smiling only slightly. "Even with a broken spine, he prefers to be down there."

"That's obvious," Minerva answered, keeping her face straight. "He thinks they're home now. He's been there too long."

Remus knocked on the door, not bothering to wait for Severus' answer before opening the door. Severus sat on the bed once more, raising his wand, mouthing something no one could hear before the noise in the room rushed back to their ears.

"Etiquette," Severus muttered to Remus. Remus shook his head and motioned towards Minerva, who stared at Severus without speaking. "Minerva. I had been wondering whether anyone has discovered the spell that hit me during the battle." His voice sounded rather clipped. Remus glanced at Minerva.

Her look seemed uncertain as she answered, "That would be the problem we ran into. No one knows the spell. It may or may not have been a type of Severing Charm that split your spinal chord."

He nodded and stared at his hands, limp in his lap with his wand twirling between the thin fingers. Remus felt a shock of sympathy for him at the moment.

"Alright," Severus answered, placing his wand on the bed beside his leg. "Might I ask -?"

"You're going to come with me," Remus cut in quickly. He guessed Severus would ask that question.

This earned him a long look. "You, Lupin?" Severus snorted. "I would not trust you to -"

"Take care of a drunken flobberworm, right?" Remus asked, quirking a small smile. "Severus, you're going to have to admit that you can't get around easily like that. You'll need someone around most of the time. It would be easier to just come with me than to stay alone."

"It's a good idea," Minerva said before Severus could answer. "If no one had any objections, I believe it is perfectly in order. And before you argue," she told Severus, who glanced away, looking annoyed, "I want you to know that right now, everyone is on their own in the world.

"Then why not nurture dear Potter," Severus hissed at Remus. "I hear he was supposed to go to St. Mungos but they couldn't because the burns would -"

"I'm only trying to help you," Remus answered. When Severus gave him another dirty look, Remus turned and walked out the door. He heard the door slam, open, and slam again before finding Minerva next to him, tying her black hair in a bun with a length of string.

"His pride has always taken place over consideration, you know that, Remus," she said to him, walking quickly to catch up. Remus did not answer. "I'd like to imagine his face when he hears what they did to his house because he betrayed them. Just try to help Harry and I can talk him into something."

"I'm still not withdrawing my offer," Remus reminded her gently, turning a corner and letting Minerva fall behind with Severus' dungeon hallway.

Remus raced up the staircases, jumping the trick steps and ignoring the ghosts that drifted around, asking him of everyone's fairing. The Hospital Wing soon came into view and Remus slowed to a walk before entering, hit by the aroma of healing salves and potions.

Harry was on the same bed as before. Remus supposed he would have a hard time moving around, but was proved wrong when Harry managed to stand up next to the bed, grabbing the top of the bed for support. Remus took his uninjured arm and helped Harry walk around the room without being asked.

"This all feels weird," Harry muttered, motioning towards the burnt half of his body. "Voldemort just - just went down. Plenty of fire in his death. I wasn't even near him, though. How did I get burned?"

"I think you two had a stronger link that we thought," Remus whispered, wedging open a door. Harry's legs seemed rather stiff, his movements jerky.

"I never had a link to him," Harry answered sourly.

Remus shook his head. "Not like that, Harry. I just meant... physically, he could injure you without being near you."

Harry let out a sigh as the cold air hit Remus once more. "It's crowded in there. That's not even everyone, you know. Most are in St. Mungos. I'd hate to think how badly they got it."

Remembering what Severus said to him earlier, Remus muttered, "It wouldn't be wise to send you there. You would be coddled over more than we know you enjoy." His smile turned grim. "Too many journalists, all trying to get at you. They're already having a hard time keeping them away when you're closed in here. Otherwise, you would have been first to go there." Remus looked at the burns once more, seeing the abrasions over the pale skin, charred flesh hanging loosely on muscle. He could not help but wince.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, you know," Harry muttered, glancing away from Remus. "Just a bit..." He trailed off, shrugging. "I'll be fine."

Remus resisted the urge to cry right there. "You will be," he whispered, not daring to raise his voice in the case that it broke from sadness.

"There has to be a spell to fix it up at some point."

"I hope so," Remus muttered, glancing at the floor as he led Harry on. Snowflakes lined the windows and froze the corridor, even from the inside. "I really hope so. You'll be fine soon, Harry. Don't worry."

In all truth, he only said the words to reassure himself.

Once Harry started complaining about the cold, Remus led him back inside. They wandered around the school corridors, passing the ghosts and other they knew. Harry even led Remus away when they spotted a girl with long, black hair and slanted eyes. Remus could only guess why.

At the moment when the teenager pulled away to round a corner before she spot them, Remus felt Harry's grip on his arm loosen and a quick hiss of pain.

"Harry?" Remus asked quickly, waiting for an answer.

Harry winced in pain, still leaned up against the wall. When Remus pulled him from the corner, he saw wet blood on the wall, staining them and Harry's loose clothing he wore to prevent touching the burns. Half of his face bled onto his neck and Remus could see a blossoming patch of red on the same side under the clothes.

"Oh, God, Harry -" Remus pulled him to his feet, taking the boy's arm over his shoulders and carrying him from the hallway, trying to avoid touching the sore side. Harry's eyes fluttered closed and he let out a small, animal-like moan of pain.

By the time they reached the Hospital Wing, blood started to stain Remus' hands and sleeves. He all but threw the boy onto the bed, ripping the wet shirt off, yelling for Madam Pomfrey. Only several people still remained in the room, none of whom appeared awake. The matron's eyes widened as she grabbed a large trolley with random potion bottles scattered on top.

"This is happening too soon!" she hissed, dumping the contents of a bottle onto linen and covering Harry's side with it. Harry hissed in pain, the visible muscles contorting in agony. "What happened?"

"He hit the wall - I think they cut open -" Remus took another linen and rubbed Harry's face as gently as possible, trying to clear the blood and find the actual cuts. Several ran down his face where the weak muscles split.

"Hold this on him," Madam Pomfrey commanded, motioning to another linen that Remus held tight to Harry's stomach. Blood stained the white again and Remus closed his eyes, trying to wash away the image.

Madam Pomfrey had her wand out, muttering spells s she brought the wand down his skin. Nothing happened. She muttered an indistinguishable word under her breath and threw her wand on the table. "They're not healing."

Remus' eyelids tightened shut, forcing himself not to look. Harry's breath sounded ragged and he muttered for Remus to let go.

"Hold tight, Harry," he whispered. "You'll be fine, I promise." In desperation not to look, he continued whispering hurried phrases. "I promise. You'll be healed and marry Ginny soon and you can live without Voldemort."

A rattling breath from near his hands told him Harry was struggling to not move or speak. When Remus did open his eyes, he saw the suffering boy, looking the same as Remus' best friend, dying under his hands.

"Isn't there anything else?" he asked Madam Pomfrey, using one hand to caress the side of Harry's face. The only response he got was the sound of the curtains closing around the bed.

"Nothing. Remus, he's going to go soon. We both know it. Make sure Miss Weasley and Miss Granger do not find out. There's still a small chance."

Shaking his head, Remus continued murmuring. "Harry, you're going to come with me soon when this is all over. Nothing is going to happen. Please, let nothing happen."

A choked sound, high pitched and inhuman, was the only answer. Remus cursed under his breath, running one hand through Harry's hair.

"Remus -" Harry choked out, some blood seeping from his mouth. "Bury me with -" The voice cut off, coughing up a red mist. Remus grabbed Harry's hand instead, stroking the top with his thumb. He glanced at Madam Pomfrey as though for permission to move, and her wide eyes gave the only answer they could. Remus slid onto the bed, taking Harry's thin shoulders into is arms, stroking the jet black hair until it tousled between his fingers more than before.

The rattling breath came and ended it all.

Remus drew back from Harry, very slowly, staring at the still body. His eyes remained open, glassy and scared looking. The skin did not start to cool yet, but Remus knew that it would be unwise to wait until that time. Madam Pomfrey met his eyes and he saw the look in them.

"He's ...?" he asked, not wanting to dare finish the question. She placed a soft hand on his throat and drew away slowly, nodding. Before Remus could say another thing, she walked backwards out of the tent the curtains made, still staring at the body. Remus knew she had seen enough death already during the day and Harry's did not improve it.

Remus left the protection of the curtains around the bed, staring at the floor. He did not want to meet Ginny or Hermione's eyes. Once Ginny saw his face, however, she burst into loud tears, grabbing Hermione's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Remus murmured, feeling his eyes burn as he held back tears. The boy died in his arms. The moment replayed in his head over and over again and he felt glad Ginny could not have seen.

Hermione pushed Ginny off her, very gently, and walked to the bed. Her hand fell on the curtain, but she did not open it. Remus saw the faintest hint of tears running down her face, but she turned away before he could read her expression.

"I'm - I'm going to go home," she whispered and ran from the room, throwing the doors open at the end and letting them slam behind her. The echoing sound filled the near empty room for a moment. Remus reached out his arms, allowing Ginny to curl near him, still crying.

"We - we were going to get married -" she sobbed, shoulders wracking with her cries. "And - and now -"

Remus pat her back. "You said you were close enough to marrying." Ginny's sobs only worsened. "Ginny - Ginny, look at me." She did not, but she fell more silent than before. "He lived to finish what he had wanted to do. He was suffering and now he's better -"

"That's not better!" she yelped, letting the tears consume her once more. "That's dead!"

Remus did not answer, but glanced at the white curtain once more. Blood still stained his hands, discoloring them to a scarlet - a Gryffindor color. Ginny's shirt, too, seeped with the same red and Remus realized he caused it.

After a moment, Ginny pushed Remus away, sniffing slightly and wiping her face with the back of her hands. She walked towards the curtains, opening them gently as though afraid of what she would see. Remus turned away from the body before he saw it and could only hear Ginny's low whispers of, "No, no, no, no..." She stopped crying and Remus heard the sound of moving sheets as she crawled into the bed, ignoring the blood and taking Harry into her arms as Remus had done.

Remus stood up slowly, casting a last look at the two. Harry looked peaceful on the bed, cradled like a child. Ginny held him tightly as though trying to bring him back to life. Excusing himself, Remus left the room.

The corridors, silent and empty, seemed welcoming. Remus felt as though he walked into his own mind. Severus' liking for the dungeons seemed to come to life; they were always silent and cold. His feet led him to the stairs and he walked down them slowly, not paying attention to the sounds of his own footsteps or the cold stone under his fingers on the handrail. The hall to the dungeons looked the same as before, torches giving the only light in the place. Remus found himself staring at them, the light making dark spots on his eyes when he looked away.

Knocking the door to Severus' room, he found himself entering without an answer again. Severus glanced up angrily, throwing the book he had before down again and raising his wand to take the spell off the room again. Remus' ears felt empty without the buzzing.

"What now?" he asked rudely.

"Harry just died," Remus whispered. Severus did not say a thing, but continued to stare at Remus. "I came to see whether you accept my offer."

"Tell me, Lupin," Severus snapped. "Can you please explain why you want me, of all people, in your home now when I can't walk?"

"I offered the same to Harry." Remus' voice sounded choked even to his own ears. He sat down on a chair at the desk next to the bed, keeping his hands in his lap and he remained straight up. "He never had the chance to accept, and now... Well, now I have no one with me." When Severus continued to state, Remus whispered, "It's going to be lonely there. No one else is willing -"

"I wonder why no one wants to stay with lonely old Lupin," Severus muttered darkly.

Remus bit his tongue and counted to five before answering. "Let me rephrase that. Everyone else already has somewhere to go after the battle. Harry would have had to buy his own house because he never had the time during the year."

"I have a house," Severus replied stiffly.

Remus shook his head. "I hear the Death Eaters ruined it for betraying them."

Severus cursed loudly. Remus remained silent as Severus growled low in his throat, staring at the opposite wall. "Damn! How could they have done that? They had no time after Voldemort fell! They're al in Azkaban!"

Snorting, Remus answered, "Remember how many of them - you" - he added it with an emphasis to annoy Severus - "escaped Azkaban? Well, it's not as though the Ministry is much tougher this time around. It wasn't very hard for them to get out. Now someone, namely the Minister, is regretting it. They seem to have made a new sort of group. Not quite the Death Eaters, as they need Voldemort for that, but something with less order."

Severus stared at him for a moment as though confused as shook his head. "I can't believe they're carrying on."

"Well, it wasn't only Voldemort forcing them to continue, was it? They believed Muggles should die," Remus answered, sighing. He looked Severus in the eye. "Do you accept my offer, then?"

His look was sour, but Severus seemed to be considering it. "My house is completely destroyed?"

"Yes."

"Death Eaters are still on the loose?"

"Yes."

"Harry Potter is dead?"

"Yes," Remus answered stiffly.

"I cannot walk?"

"Correct."

Severus pursed his lips. "I suppose I accept. It's not as though the day could be any stranger."

Remus smiled humorlessly. "I suggest taking a long look at the newspaper before we leave, however."

"Is it bad?" Severus asked, frowning. He picked up each leg separately and moved them to the side of the bed so that he could sit up fully, staring at Remus. His clothes, the same as the ones he wore during the battle, looked rather bloodstained. He seemed to have escaped the wrath of Madam Pomfrey and her hospital gowns. The black cloak did not seem to be there, however.

"I have no clue," Remus answered truthfully. "However, by what I've heard, things are not... going perfectly in the other places. I believe the Death Eaters are making life harder than before, with or without the amount of casualties we had."

"When am I leaving with you, then?" Severus asked. "I'm not exactly anticipating the occasion."

"I think we could be gone by tonight," Remus told him, trying to make his voice as rude as possible. "If you don't appreciate it, you don't need to accept. There is always a chance of Hogwarts remaining open."

Severus gave Remus a small smile, teeth bared. "You must be quite the optimist, Lupin. Hogwarts staying open if things are as bad as you make them out to be is an impossibility. The school would be closed in a matter of seconds."

"You were never the optimist, were you, Severus? Not even a normal thinker, I believe."

"I am merely truthful in my thoughts, Lupin," Severus answered sarcastically. "I refuse to be neither optimistic nor pessimistic."

Remus quirked a small smile and stood up. "I'll be asking Poppy whether I can take you yet -"

"I don't need her permission to go," Severus answered. "I'm a free man. Allow me to pack a few things and I'll be ready."

"Could I ask how you're going to pack?" Remus asked, motioning towards Severus' legs. Severus glanced down at them, frowning slightly.

"I'm going to assume I'll be needing assistance with everything, then." Placing a hand on one leg, he tried to stand, but only managed to straighten his spine a bit.

"You are going to need plenty of help." The truth would not hurt Severus any more than he already was. "That's part of the reason why you should come with me."

"Not all of this is your inane fantasy that I'm Potter?" Severus sneered. "I thought you were lonely Lupin -"

Biting his lip, Remus turned towards the desk. "What do you need packed? I think we can bring everything in one load if we shrink it all."

Severus gave him a dirty look. "I can do it myself, werewolf."

Remus froze, straightening up and not daring to turn around to face Severus. He knew the words would hurt Remus more than the use of his last name over first. Age old grudges did not easily, it seemed. "Alright, Severus," he answered, voice nearing a growl. "Pack yourself."

Even without looking, Remus knew Severus had a hard time. The sound of struggling and slipping filled his ears and Remus had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from smiling.

"Not too good at it, are you?" Remus asked. "Do you need help or do you want to keep trying until you can stand by yourself?"

"Fine," Severus snarled. "Fine! Pack my clothes and those books there." Remus took the requested items and placed them on top of the desk as Severus continued to name items. After the desk groaned under the combined weight of the books and other assorted items, Remus cast a quick charm on them until they shrunk to the size of his pocket, and then lightened them with another charm before picking them all up in two handfuls.

When they landed safely in his pocket, Remus stretched out a hand to a sweaty looking Severus who had spent the entire time Remus packed for him attempting to stand up. He seemed to have taken the injury to heart and tried to deny it. It was only after another attempt at standing that he took the hand proffered to him and leaned entirely on Remus for support.

"You're not able to walk that way, either, are you?" Remus asked after taking a step forward and feeling Severus lean sideways to keep his feet on the floor and still hold Remus.

"No," he answered flatly. "I refuse to let you carry me."

"I believe," Remus said lightly, "that you'll need to try a Muggle wheel chair."

Severus pursed his lips again, looking rather sour. "I refuse to resort to such things."

"Fine," Remus snapped, making to move Severus' hand from his shoulder, but Severus' grip tightened with the movement.

"Alright," he answered. "I'll try it."

Letting Severus sit back down, legs not even allowing him to get that far without collapsing, Remus walked back to the Hospital Wing. The sounds of talking came from inside the doors as he pulled them open. It appeared Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic, was having a loud argument with Minerva and Madam Pomfrey.

"We will not allow his body to be set up like some - some museum!" Minerva shouted, face going red.

Scrimgeour shook his head, yelling back in equally loud tones, "That is not what I asked for! We are merely going to take his picture and write the article! It will show how Voldemort is affecting us all -"

"He's dead!" Minerva shouted, Madam Pomfrey starting to pale as her mouth opened too. "If you had taken such care when he was alive, he would have fallen faster!"

Remus tried to move along the side of the room to Madam Pomfrey, but Scrimgeour seemed to have noticed him from the corner of his eye.

"Remus Lupin!" he said happily, forcing a smile and extending a hand. "I see we have a war hero here! Could the Ministry -"

"No," Remus answered flatly, catching Minerva's eye. She smiled behind Scrimgeour's back. "I refuse to do anything for the Ministry. Minerva is right."

Scrimgeour frowned, but quickly changed his expression. "You will not be doing something for the Ministry. The Ministry will be doing something for you."

"I refuse," Remus repeated coldly. "If you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with Poppy." When he walked past Scrimgeour, he heard a faint voice hiss in his ear so that only he could hear.

"Lupin. I assure you that no better deals will come before you in your lifetime. You may be one of the heroes now, but do not forget that you are a werewolf, too. That has not changed. None of them were on our side."

"I was," Remus whispered, voice just as low.


	3. Acquiescence

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates.**_

_**Author's Notes: Thanks to the reviewers. You're all too nice. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well. I'm sorry I was a bit slow, except you can't expect much out of me. I'm in school.**_

_Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. _

_- Sir Winston Churchill_

After having managed to move away from Scrimgeour, Remus spoke in a low voice to Madam Pomfrey, who kept throwing dirty glances back at Scrimgeour.

"You're taking him?" she asked, worried as her eyes darted to the side. "I'm not going to refuse, but I'm not too fond of this idea. He is -"

"There's nothing wrong," Remus cut in. "We're fine. I offered and he accepted."

Still looking doubtful, Madam Pomfrey answered, "Alright. I'm just making sure this isn't some sort of depression issue after Harry... well, the happening." She motioned to Scrimgeour as though for him to wait or leave then walked over to a closet in her office that Remus never noticed before. She pulled out a black chair with wheels in the sides and moved it towards Remus. "I've only ever kept one for in case of something very bad. I never thought I would use it."

Remus nodded, thanking her and wheeling the chair out of the room. "Remus," she called after him. "It's charmed to get down stairs easier. That should help him."

Thanking her again, Remus wheeled out of the room in time to hear Scrimgeour's voice ask, "Who was hurt?"

The wheelchair proved to be simple on the stairs. When Remus held the handles tightly so as not to let it fall, he felt the wheels move as slowly as if he continued to walk on flat land. The wheels seemed to ignore the crooked steps and glide down an invisible surface. Reaching the dungeon took only minutes compared to the hours he expected.

Severus, still on the chair and scribbling down more notes, glanced up when the door opened. "Your majesty," Remus muttered, placing the chair next to Severus and helping the man into it. Severus fit his hands around the tops of the wheels, feeling the cold black covering.

"I suppose the Muggle... were thinking something right when they made these," he admitted. Pushing the tops of the wheels forward once, the chair glided swiftly to the bed, stopping just before. He looked up at Remus. "Can we leave now?"

Remus only then realized how much Severus really wanted to leave, even if he kept repeating petty insults about Remus. "Now?"

"I - I don't want to be here any longer," Severus muttered. "Let's just leave now." His eyes trailed to the ground, an act Remus had never seen Severus perform. He looked almost ashamed.

"If there anything wrong -?" Remus started, but Severus glared at him again.

"It's nothing," he snapped, returning to his usual attitude. "I would prefer to be somewhere else right now, even if it's at your hovel."

Smiling, Remus touched his pocket again to make sure Severus' belongings remained in place. The handles on the wheelchair seemed to create the easiest way to get Severus out, so Remus reached out to push them. Severus opened his mouth, but did not reject and simply let himself be pushed.

Getting to Remus' house proved to be the most difficult feat of them all. The fireplace could barely fit the wheelchair inside and Severus had even more trouble throwing the Floo Powder down to move to another place. In the end, they managed to get through by Remus tossing the powder under the wheels as Severus called out the name. Remus followed soon after and found himself landing almost on top of Severus.

The room looked the same as before: small and crowded, yet neat. Nothing was out of place, which Remus prided himself on. Severus wheeled forward enough to let Remus pass before him.

"There's only one bedroom," he told Severus, taking the items from his pockets. "As you're the guest, I'll let you have it." He motioned in the direction, pointing to a darkened hallway. Severus got the wheelchair moving again, painfully maneuvering towards the hall Remus started walking down. Remus returned the items to usual size and placed them in the room as Severus instructed them. No one spoke when he finished.

"I'll be in the other room," Remus said, noticing Severus' blank look towards the wall. "If you need me."

Walking out, just as Remus closed the door, he saw Severus finger with the clasp of his robes and start to shrug painfully from them. It seemed like an odd act, but only when the clothes fell off the thin frame did he see it.

Severus' back, pale and slim, was marred by a single word that looked carved into his skin, possibly still raw.

Traitor.

Remus drew away before he could see anything else. The single word seemed burned into his memory, too, unable to move. Severus seemed to hear the noise of the door closing for Remus heard the sound of cloth shifting around and a sudden buzzing from the room.

That explained why Severus avoided everyone, even when he needed the Hospital Wing. It explained the blank stares fully. Did the Death Eaters to that to him? Remus wondered as he walked almost unconsciously towards the front room. It had not been Harry or Dumbledore's lingering memory that drove Severus into accepting Remus' offer to leave the castle for a while.

The scars reminded Remus of the ones carved into his own skin from past full moons, still crisscrossing each other around his arms and torso, leading up to his throat. Did the Death Eaters manage to hold Severus down long enough to carve into the bare flesh? Even the image made Remus close his eyes to forget it.

A sudden rush of green fire forced open Remus' eyes. He glanced at the fireplace in time to see a girl, fiery red hair around her face in a mess, appear. Her face looked contorted and wet as she threw herself into Remus, barely suppressing tears.

"What happened?" he asked Ginny, almost toppling over from the force she applied.

"I - I went back and - and the house was completely destroyed!" Her tears increased as her voice raised, fast and wild. "There was no Dark Mark, though - just a destroyed house. I have no clue what happened to anyone! Bill or Charlie or Mum or Dad -" Her shoulders jumped in a twitchy manner as she tried to calm down.

Remus bit the inside of his cheek, almost close to ripping it. "Ginny, was anything else wrong there?"

She shook her head. "No one was there, just the house."

He grabbed her wrists, holding them tightly with one hand and pushing the hair from her eyes with the other. "Shhh. It's alright, Ginny. No one is hurt. Just - just stay calm."

"Where are they?" she shouted, wrinkling up her face as though in agony. "I can't find them and you don't know, do you?"

She soon fell asleep in his arms, still crying through closed eyes.

When Severus came out of the room, steering the wheelchair tightly around the corners in the walls, stopping when he saw Remus on the ground, holding the girl. "What happened?" he asked.

"She's just tired," Remus whispered over her head. "She found the Burrow in ruins. No body, though," he added when Severus opened his mouth. "Hasn't slept in a day or two, I think, or since Harry was injured."

"Not surprising she's tired," Severus muttered. "The battle ended three days ago. You were unconscious like most of the others for a while. I heard she waited at his bed every night and day since then just to see when he got better." With a sour smile, Severus added, "Sounds like a Weasley."

Remus stared at him, frowning. "It's not such a bad thing," he growled. "You would want someone at your side if you were dying slowly."

"I'm wondering why everyone takes my words as an insult," Severus remarked, staring at the ceiling. "I was not insulting her. I was merely remarking on the ability of the Weasleys to wait out days with someone without moving. I heard she survived rather unscathed and took it upon herself to nurse Potter."

Ginny's chest rose with a deep breath and the exhaling sounded like a choked cry. Remus rubbed her shoulders, returning his attention to her. "Poor girl," he murmured. "She doesn't deserve any of this so early in life. She's not even out of school."

"It would have happened at some point in her life," Severus muttered, wheeling closer to them. Ginny's body twitched slightly as he came closer and shifted away, almost falling off Remus. "Sit on a chair, for decency's sake. As if having a child in your lap is indecent enough, you're leaving her on the ground."

Remus struggled to his feet, picking up Ginny who turned out to be surprisingly light. He laid her out on the chair, her arms draping off one side. She did not seem to notice and Remus saw how tired she actually looked. Light purple shadows highlighted her eyes even in sleep. He stroked her hair until it stayed behind her ear once more.

"I think she'll be here for a while," Remus whispered. "I'll find another place to sleep. You keep the bedroom," he added as Severus opened his mouth.

"I was not mentioning that," he answered coolly. "I was going to say it would be wise to find her family before telling her anything else. If they are alive as you both imply, they will be looking for her."

"Where were they last?" Remus asked, brushing his fringe from his eyes. "Did any of them go into the Hospital Wing?"

"Only for a while," Severus told him. "To visit the Golden Trio. Dreadful. They obviously wanted to gloat their ability to mourn for hours at a time. Loudly, too," he added, shaking his head with disgust. Remus resisted the urge to hit Severus once more, but he felt his ability to control himself had started to wane. "When they left, no one heard anything else from them."

Remus sighed and perched himself on the armrest next to Ginny, who remained asleep. "I'll contact some people to ask them."

"Don't use the Floo," Severus warned him suddenly. "The Ministry is most likely watching it. Besides, even if they aren't watching all of them, I'm here. Scrimgeour knows that and they'll be watching me, at the very least. They'll figure out something is going on and I know this won't end well."

Remus could tell Severus referred to the happenings after the First War and the death toll that rose even after the war. The Ministry soon started tracking the Death Eaters that pleaded their innocence. Even Severus was watched for a while, even though Albus Dumbledore gave his word on the innocence of the man. All of his calls through the Floo were received by the Ministry until Dumbledore cut into their attempts.

"I'll get to them directly, then," Remus answered, standing up and tightening his cloak around his shoulders. It needed to be patched once more as large tears marred it. "Watch her, will you? Just make sure she doesn't run off or do anything drastic."

After Severus nodded and parked his wheelchair in front of the chair, Remus Disapparated, feeling the crowding of air around his body, as though crushing him. When he landed, a house loomed into view. It was a rather small house with a glamorous layout from the outside, which made it stand out more than the others. The flowers were all roses and other expensive flora and the house had a fresh coat of bright paint. Remus could only guess Fleur decorated it.

When he knocked on the door, he was greeted with a call asking who he was. After answering with his name and leaning back from the door, waiting until the door opened. A woman, rather tall for her age, with silvery hair that fell in bright currents down her back smiled at him, blue eyes crinkled. Remus bit his tongue when he first saw her. He was not resistant to Veelas, he knew, and almost every man who saw her began to try to seduce Bill's new wife.

"Bienvenue, Remus!" she greeted, lapsing back into French. She sighed as though with relief. "Eet 'as been such a long time," she said to him, moving aside to let Remus in. "Would you like to take off your robe? Eet looks rather warm."

"It's cold outside," he answered, shaking his head.

"Remus?" Bill walked into the room, holding several books in his hands. Placing them down, he continued to give Remus an odd look. Remus could still see the deep scars from Fenrir's attack. "What happened?"

"Have you seen your parents lately, Bill?" he asked. The clock in the corner of his eye, modeled off the traditional Weasley clock, showed both of their names at home, rather than the old "In Mortal Peril". It seemed like a pleasant change.

Bill's face paled under the scars. "What happened to them?"

"I don't know yet," Remus answered, wringing his hands behind his back. Bill looked as though he were going to faint. "Ginny came by saying the Burrow has been destroyed -"

Fleur's eyes went side. "Why?" she said, voice barely above a whisper. Her hands flew to her mouth as she fell into a chair. "They are dead? How -?"

Remus shook his head again. "No bodies. Ginny didn't see any, at least. We know some Death Eaters are still out there, but without Voldemort, then can't be doing anything bad." He stared Bill in the eye. "Have you seen them? It may help with where they went off to."

"I have no clue," he answered, voice almost breaking, but he cleared his throat. "The only place I can think of them going would be close family. Try Charlie, maybe. Maybe Aunt Murial would know."

Nodding, Remus excused himself in time to see Fleur cry on her husband's shoulder. She seemed to have taken a liking towards the Weasleys since Bill's attack.

Charlie's house looked more in place. Though Remus knew him to be a neat man, he did not have a wife who desired any sort of beauty around the yard. When he reached the door, Charlie answered. His broad face broke into a smile once he recognized Remus. Even after the war, he looked the same as usual, if not more strained and tired.

"Remus," he greeted. "What's happening?"

"Have you seen your parents lately?" he asked, already looking towards the frame of the door rather than Charlie's falling face.

"No. What's going on?"

"Ginny came to my house," Remus sighed, pushing his hair from his eyes. These days, it remained near complete grey with only the remnants of brown from before. "She said the Burrow had been destroyed but no one can find Molly and Arthur's..." He did not want to end with 'bodies' as it made it sound too certain that they were dead.

Charlie reached out for the frame that Remus had stared at as though to steady himself.

"Doesn't anyone know where they are?" he asked quietly. Remus shook his head. Charlie stepped out with Remus, frowning. "We're looking for them, right -?"

Remus pushed Charlie back into the room. "I'm asking around first. If no one can find them, I promise to tell you and we can look, alright?" Charlie remained worried-looking. "Please. We'll find them soon."

Once Charlie stepping back inside and Remus promised him once more to alert him of their findings, he left.

After asking several more people, including somewhat-close family of the Weasleys and the remaining sons, Remus returned home to find Ginny sitting on the chair once more, conscious, and staring at her hands. Severus did not say anything but moved away when Remus entered.

"She's fine," he muttered once Remus eyes Ginny warily. "Just shocked."

"I'm not shocked," she whispered, voice sounding hoarse and ragged. "Remus." She gave him a pleading look. "Can I - can I just stay here a little longer. I don't exactly have -"

Remus knew before she said it. Without marrying Harry and moving in with him or going back to the Burrow, she had nowhere to go. He nodded and leaned against the back of her chair. "You can stay as long as you need, Ginny."

"Is Hogwarts opening next year?" she asked quietly, glancing up at him. Her brown eyes looked rather red and wet still. "After the war?"

Only then did Remus remember that Ginny was not yet a graduate of the school. He shrugged. "It may, Ginny, except there are still things going on... Not many parents are too safe with allowing their children out of their sight while Death Eaters are still out."

Severus seemed to squirm in his seat. "The Death Eaters would not still be using the Dark Mark and acting together if it were not for some sort of leader. I know they managed to replace the Dark Lord, somehow."

"It would have to be someone outside of Azkaban, then," Remus answered.

Severus shook his head. "The Ministry is still a mess. It's doesn't take a genius or Animagus" - she spat out the word with disgust - "to escape these days."

Remus gave Severus a sideways glance and turned back to Ginny, who curled up in the chair like a cat, staring up at him. Before he taught at Hogwarts, several of the teachers who knew Lily before she died claimed Ginny to look somewhat like her. Though their looks had a small resemblance, it was their personality that caught Remus' eye. Both, vivacious and smart, showed their insecurities easily even if those times were short and far between.

When he glanced at the clock on the opposite wall, Remus saw the time to be rather late. Ginny's eyes, lined with shadows, betrayed her wakefulness.

"Should I get the beds set up?" he asked. Ginny shrugged, so Remus proceeded to get a blanket and pillow and lay them out on the longest chair. Severus disappeared at some point while he did so to the bedroom. Ginny moved to the new chair, standing next to it.

"Where are you sleeping?" she asked Remus, pausing.

"There are other places to sleep in here," he answered, lightly, motioning to the chair. Ginny sat on the bed, lying out. Remus found himself tucking her in even though she was nearing the age of adulthood. However, she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Remus," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"Good night."

"'Night."

She fell asleep soon after, even though she spent most of the afternoon sleeping. Remus walked to the bedroom to check on Severus and grab his night robe.

Severus sat next to the bed, still in the wheelchair. He tried to raise himself on his arms, but fell back down soon after.

"Here." Remus touched Severus' shoulders to help him up, but the dark-haired man pushed the hands away from him.

"I don't need your help," he spat. "I can get it myself."

The lack of ability to control his legs seemed to take heart to Severus. It was a sign of weakness to him, something to reject and pretend to not have.

"I'm only trying to help," Remus whispered. Severus sighed.

"I - I can't stand this," he muttered. "I've tried brewing potions for it, tried spells, everything." He placed his head in his hands, brow furrowed.

"It happens to plenty of people," Remus answered. "They learn to live with it. You will, too, don't worry. Just -"

"You're not the one in this!" Severus snarled, glaring at Remus so quickly that their heads almost collided. "You have you clue what it's like to be left like this!"

"That means you have no right to insult me over being a werewolf." Remus' voice lowered as he spoke. "You have no clue about that. I'll say nothing more about your condition if you say nothing about mine."

Severus' beastly expression softened a bit as he considered it. He leaned back in the chair very slowly, giving Remus a wary look.

"Alright," he muttered. "I will."

Remus smiled. "Good. Let me help you then." He gripped Severus' arms and helped move the man, more shoving him onto the bed than anything else. That would be something to try to help Severus on - moving by himself.

Severus grudgingly thanked Remus and pulled the covers up to his neck. With his robes still on, Severus looked an interesting sight. Remus grinned at him and opened the wardrobe to pull out his own clothes, then taking a handful of Severus' clothes and placing them next to the bed.

"In case you want to dress in something else," he said, smiling at the man who only scowled in return.

Remus left the room, pulling the door closed before him.

The only light remaining in the house appeared to come from the front room where Ginny was. Remus smiled to himself, glad to finally have someone else in the house with him after so long of being alone. He crept to the bathroom, making sure no one could hear him, and pulled the clothes on. He folded the old clothes and placed them to the side of the room.

Once in the front room, he saw Ginny sleeping, still unmoved, and a candle on the table before them. Remus pulled an extra blanket he brought out with Ginny's and placed it on the smaller couch, which had been meant for sitting in, not sleeping. After blowing out the candle, he crept into the makeshift bed.

"Good night, Ginny," he whispered again, even if she was sleeping.

The chair turned out to be a bad choice of bed in the morning. Remus woke feeling stiff and tired. Ginny's eyes already opened though she had not moved.

"Morning, Remus," she muttered, sitting up straighter and rubbing her eyes.

"Did you sleep alright?"

"I'm fine," she answered, taking the thick blankets off her. She eyes Remus warily. "Did you sleep alright? You don't look too good."

Remus stretched out his arms, sighing as he heard several cracks and wincing. "Just not used to sleeping out here. I'm fine." Standing up, he added, "I'm going to check on Severus."

Ginny made a face.

Sighing once more, Remus stared down at the nest of red hair. "He's on our side, Ginevra. You know that. He fought with us."

She only shook his head.

Once in the hallway, Remus knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. Soon came the "Come in." Remus entered to find Severus sitting up in the bed, staring at the wall opposite.

"I couldn't get up," he muttered, looking almost ashamed. "Sweet Merlin, I can't even get out of the bed anymore." Severus ducked his head down, letting it hang from his neck like an old coat from a hook. Remus heard a sound that sounded almost like a dry sob, but it vanished so soon that he was no longer sure of it.

"It's alright," he whispered soothingly, walking next to Severus, but found an irritated growl coming from the man.

"Don't," Severus snarled, still not moving. "Don't - touch - me. I don't need your help."

"You can't just ignore this forever!" Remus' voice rose to a pitch he feared taking on with other people. He tried to lower it but to no avail. "Severus, ignorance cannot solve every problem you have! I wasn't ignorant when it came to - to this."

Severus finally glanced up at Remus, and the other man could finally see the dim red glow around his eyes as though from tears. "Lupin - you're the same as everyone else for most of the time. You're still a disgusting monster," he added, gulping, "but most look at you normally. Me... You saw the scars, didn't you? They branded me. The entire Wizarding World branded me the traitor, the one who killed Albus Dumbledore. I can't move my legs at all. I'm defenseless, completely so." His head ducked down again and his shoulders shook, but Remus still did not hear the sound of crying.

"You're only human," Remus whispered. He took the man by the shoulders, grudgingly bringing him closer as he had done with so many people to comfort. "It's fine to show weakness. It's what unites us all."

Severus Snape finally cried on the shoulder of his least favorite living man. It's impossible to cry on the shoulders of the dead.

_"The first casualty when war comes is truth". - Hiram W. Johnson_


	4. Condemnation

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates.**_

_**Author's Notes: I'm so glad to entertain people for the short while it takes to read these. I really hope you all enjoy the rest of the story. I'm updating as quickly as possible without killing myself, too. Remember, ten chapters! If I have time and more plot, it could be longer.**_

The owl carrying the Daily Prophet came without either of the men noticing. After rapping impatiently on the door, the owl hooted and seemed to give up as it traveled to the window on the opposite side of the house.

Ginny opened the old glass and glanced around. After a moment, she pulled several Knuts from her pocket that she seemed to have forgotten she had on her. Once the owl had them secured in the pouch tied to a scaly leg, he jumped off, flying away faster than usual.

"Newspaper," Ginny called, pausing. She had not heard from Severus or Remus for at least ten minutes. Weakly, she opened the paper, glancing at the headlines. All seemed rather morbid. The obituaries seemed longer than ever. Even the photos looked more black than white.

After glancing through the obituaries, she figured out the reason why they seemed so long. The war. Everyone there had been in the war.

A tear escaped her eyes as she saw half of her friends and family, pictures all lined up, smiling, waving, happy.

"Remus?" she called out again, feeling her voice drop to a dull whisper within nanoseconds. No answer came yet again. She dropped the paper to the ground and walked to the door, pulling it open firmly.

The air, cool as it had been the day before, stung at her eyes, drying them. She had never liked to be seen crying, not since Tom Riddle, who dried up all of her tears. Snow, gently strewn about the yard, froze her bare feet as she walked onto it.

After a minute or two, she heard a yelled behind her. "Ginny!" Larger hands seized her shoulders, pulling her firmly inside. "What are you doing?"

"Standing outside," she muttered, eyes downcast, hoping the position would not squeeze out more tears than needed. "Just wanted to stand outside."

"Wearing next to nothing?" Remus managed to wrestle her inside and closed the door, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she insisted, but Remus seemed to notice the newspaper on the ground. Cautiously picking it up, he raised his eyebrows at Ginny, who did not reply. He opened the paper, glancing at the list of names and the pictures. His face slowly dropped a bit more as he passed every person. When he looked back up at Ginny again, she saw the heartbreak on his face.

"They're…. they're listing the missing as killed," he whispered numbly. Ginny only then noticed the second to last picture of a young woman, possibly in her mid-twenties, hair spiked, a huge grin plastered on her face as she winked up at the two. "Oh, God…."

Dropping into the nearest chair, Remus' head fell into his hands, shaking slightly. Ginny had no clue how to react. His reaction seemed similar to the one after Dumbledore's death the year before, but she knew nothing of how to consol him. He looked disconnected from the world, rather like a rip in the wall separating dimensions.

"Remus, she's not dead," she whispered bravely, her voice trying to remain somewhat cheery and kind. It seemed like such a hard task and she wondered how Remus managed to do so. "The Ministry is full of a bunch of dolts. They're not sure of anything. It's just supposition."

He did not change his position, but Ginny felt sure she heard something out of him. "They could be right -"

"Are you trying to find ways to prove she's dead?" Ginny asked harshly. Remus' back, the only part of him she could see well, tightened.

"Ginny," he said. His voice remained even and controlled, though Ginny could hear something beyond that, something that almost bordered anger. "You weren't around in the first one. Everyone who went missing stayed missing. They were found dead only a short while later or else would never be found. Half of them ended up in St. Mungos, and some are still there. You've met Frank and Alice, I know you have."

Ginny stared at the ground, feeling ashamed. Remus seemed to notice it for his shoulders sagged and he finally turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean it all like that -"

Sniffing slightly and trying not to betray the fact that it really hit her in the heart, Ginny muttered, "I don't want to imagine Hermione or - or Ron or anyone else missing. I never want to find their bodies -"

"The problem is," Remus muttered, looking bitter, "we rarely find the bodies. The other side does. You remember the Inferius?"

Ginny shuddered. The dead bodies that walked over the battlefield at the school, eyes hollowed, skin ghostly pale, still lingered in her mind.

"I couldn't hit them." Remus shook his head, staring Ginny in the eye. "I couldn't hit any of them with curses. I knew half of them when they were alive. The other half couldn't kill because somewhere, someone else knew them. I could only freeze around them."

The fleeting image of Remus keeping towards the living half of the battle and getting off more Death Eaters than most while the other fought the bodies came to mind.

She gulped. "I never thought about that."

"Good," he replied. "You should never have to think about that, mainly at your age."

Glancing once again at the newspaper, her eyes trailed down to the very bottom of the page where neither of them managed to read to. Once she did, she let out a single sound, rather like a cross between a scream and a sob. Remus caught her before she fell over completely.

"What happened?" he asked, ripping the newspaper from her hands again. Once he scanned the page again, he saw.

The last picture on the page contained a picture of two people, both rather joyful looking. Both with red hair. One man, one woman.

Molly and Arthur Weasley stared at Remus from the page before he dropped it on the ground.

"They're dead!" she sobbed, gripping his arm painfully tight. Remus stared at the fallen page in shock.

"They may just be missing -" he whispered.

"You said it yourself!" she hollered, moving out of Remus' grip and staring at him, still crying. "You said they had no clue that they were even missing!"

"They may have just found out -"

"THEY DIDN'T!" she screamed, reaching out and plummeting her fists into his chest. Remus lost his breath quickly. She was certainly stronger than she looked. "You promised me!"

Remus grabbed her shoulders, moving her arms away from him long enough to continue breathing normally. "Ginny, no one could have promised," he wheezed.

"So you admit they're dead?" she asked, voice low and angry.

He hated himself for it. He nodded.

She dissolved into tears, dropping her head into his chest. Remus grimaced as he felt newly formed bruises crush under her. Her body shook as she broke down, one atom at a time until there was nothing left.

"I hate this," she whispered numbly as Remus stroked her hair. "First Harry and now Mum and Dad -" With a frantic gulp of air, she broke away from him. "Whoever the hell did it, I'm after them!"

Remus grabbed her elbow again and pulled her back. "Ginny, if we were to avenge everyone who killed someone in this war, there wouldn't be many of us left, would there?" Bending to her eye level, he added, "You still have me here, Ginny. And trust me when I say I don't want to see you in there next."

Her eyes darkened again as she yelled, "If they're killing so many people, I think everyone would want to see me in there next."

Remus bit his lip before saying slowly, "This is what I meant before, Ginny. It happens during every war -"

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" she stormed, glaring openly at him. She batted his hand away violently. "Stop it! I don't need you - You don't understand -"

Another voice broke the fight. "What are you doing, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny turned to find Severus in his wheelchair, watching her with interest. She picked up the newspaper without taking her eyes off of him and threw it at his face. Severus opened it delicately as though nothing happened. "See what you did?" she snarled at him. "It's all your fault!" She launched herself at him but Remus kept his grasp firm on her. Severus regarded her with a coldly indifferent face.

"Ginny, please don't blame him," Remus reasoned, pulling her back as her arms flailed. "He was here the whole time - He couldn't have done it!"

Her frantic clawing subsided slightly and Remus relaxed his grip very slightly. She turned her brown eyes onto Remus. "Who did it, then?"

"I have no clue," he whispered. Ginny's shoulders slumped as she gave up completely. Remus slowly moved his hands from her, letting her loose to move by her own. 'We should just be glad it wasn't everyone,' Remus found himself thinking. Luckily, he had the sense to not say it aloud.

"If you don't mind," Severus interrupted, still staring Ginny down, "I need to discuss several matters with Lupin." He jerked his head to the hallway and Remus excused himself, following Severus.

"Yes?" Remus answered once in the hall.

Severus stared at him for a moment. "I'm hoping the battle has not addled with your brain. If case it has escaped your notice, the full moon is in several days." Remus opened his mouth but Severus spoke over him. "I do not think anyone could ever be comfortable with something" - he stressed the last syllable - "like you in it. I would gladly make the Wolfsbane Potion, if only for my own safety, but I do not trust Miss Weasley around the ingredients."

In all truth, it had escaped Remus' mind in the rush of things. He sighed. "Severus, she's not going to ruin anything -"

"You misunderstand me. She's insane at the moment, Lupin. You can see it yourself. She's becoming a wild animal, and with any chance, she'll be trying to kill herself. You know very well that wolfsbane is a poison and nothing else unless mixed with the proper ingredients."

Remus saw Severus' point. However, it did not seem anything like Ginny to try to kill herself. When he glanced to the other room, though, he saw Ginny on the chair, blank stare planted on her face, tears dripping from her eyes, teeth bared in a near snarl at the wall before her.

Turning back to Severus, Remus whispered, "She wouldn't do something that stupid, Severus. Think of what you're saying."

"I'm saying she's depressed. I remember you acted rather similar when that mutt died." Severus raised his eyebrows.

The first days after Sirius' death came to Remus' mind. He did indeed act strangely for a while, as everyone else did. Plenty of depression, anger, denial, and violence marked Remus' first reactions until he placed himself in Dumbledore's orders to be sent off somewhere for a mission that took his mind off the pain. However, he never went near a suicide attempt.

'Because you're needed in the war,' came the sinister whisper in his ear. 'You only stopped yourself because there was enough going on without your death to add to it.'

"I did not," Remus whispered, closing his eyes. "And she's fine."

Severus shrugged. "If you insist. It'll only be a matter of getting the ingredients." He looked Remus over quickly. "I'll need to try the storerooms at Hogwarts as you appear, ah, financially unable to buy the ingredients."

Remus felt his face flush slightly. "I suppose so," he muttered, grinding his teeth.

Severus glanced past Remus and down at the wheelchair wheels. "You'll have to go," he muttered. "I can't move in this damn thing."

Nodding, Remus turned but paused. "How much of what?" he asked without turning.

He was greeted with a sigh. "Take this," Severus muttered, pressing a wad of parchment into Remus' hand. "I don't trust you enough to remember everything. I wrote it all there last night."

Remus glanced at the list and frowned. If he had known the ingredients on that paper kept him sane every month, he would have wondered how drunk the person was. "Just these?"

"Yes," Severus answered in clipped tones.

Remus continued walking, not bothering to turn back to Severus. His decision to invite the man seemed to backfire on him. Severus would never change, Remus decided. He would always remain the killer, the traitor, a Death Eater with a snaky attitude.

'You wanted Harry here with you,' came the small voice in his head, sounding meek. 'You wanted anyone here, really. Severus is the best you can hope for right now.'

Sighing, Remus reached the front door and grabbed a light cloak from next to it. Once it swung around his shoulders, he gave Ginny a small smile and disappeared out the door into the snow. Apparating came too easily too him as he wanted to leave. The gates of Hogwarts came into view as he landed, coughing in the cold air. A trickle of rain started to fall onto his head and he sighed while knocking on the gates. Of course, no one could hear him. With another sigh, he took out his wand and cast a quick Patronus Charm. A large Tasmanian Devil burst from the end of his wand and jumped away.

He waited in silence, waiting for someone to get him from inside the castle. Soon, however, a returning Patronus met him at the gate. A click announced the opening of the bars then the Patronus disappeared before his eyes. Remus entered the gates slowly and made to walk up the steep slope when a carriage crossed his path, the large and skeletal horse that pulled it pausing in front of him.

"Thanks," Remus murmured, climbing in. The thestral pulled him along to the front doors of the castle. He got out of the carriage again, passing the thestral and feeling it grab the corner of his robes with sharp teeth. Remus turned back and saw the thestral playfully nibbling on the edge of his robes. After giving it a quick pat on the head, Remus managed to get away inside the castle.

Coming down the stairs was Minerva McGonagall, who asked, "Yes, Remus?"

He pulled the slip of paper from his back pocket, unfolding. "Severus needs some potions ingredients. Could I grab some from the classroom?"

She gave him a curiously suspicious look. "What potion?"

"Wolfsbane," he answered, lowering his voice slightly.

She sighed in relief. "Alright. I was just worried that he would be trying to make something else to heal himself. He was insane with it for a while."

Worry spread through Remus' head. "These are the right ingredients, then? Not ones for another potion?"

She glanced at the list, frowning. "These look right. Go ahead and take them. You know where to go."

"What happened to everyone?" Remus asked cautiously. "The school isn't closing, is it?"

Minerva shook her head, looking a bit miserable. "It's opening up again very soon. The only problem is that we're only going to have a few students returning. Those who - who survived are wanted at home and now there's not even a hundred left."

Remus quickly thanked her and walked down to the dungeons as quickly as possible without running. The school seemed too empty to be comfortable. Once in the cold classroom, he found the next door that Severus usually kept sealed to his storerooms that the students could never access.

The stench of hundreds of raw ingredients hit Remus' nose and made his eyes water. He had never liked potions partly because of the scents and partly because of the exact measurements. Remus glanced at the list, trying to make it out through the dank and dark air around him. It took nearly a half hour to find everything and measure them out on scales he found at one corner and the silver knife next to them. The same thought ran through his head the entire time: 'If I knew all of these were in that potion, I would have never taken it.'

Finally, after collecting the ingredients into small bags at the other end of the room, Remus tied the ends of them all together to hold easier. On the way out, he thanked Minerva for letting him in and found the thestral outside the door once more.

"You're not going to leave me along anytime soon, are you?" he asked the horse. It would have smiled if it could. Remus sighed and climbed into the carriage again. The journey seemed longer than ever back down to the gates because the thestral kept turning to lick Remus though it could not reach.

"Could you stop trying to bite me?" Remus asked impatiently. The thestral halted and gave him a reproachful look. "I'm not covered in blood, alright?"

He glanced at his dripping sleeve.

A faint glimmer of red was on the frayed edge.

Cursing loudly, Remus checked his arm and saw nothing there. He jumped out of the carriage and tried to Apparate, only to feel the pain of being hit over the head with an iron bar from the spells around the school. He groaned and glared at the thestral once before glancing at the gates. They appeared within easy reach. He darted toward them, running faster than he had ever run, feeling the cold air whip at his eyes and through his hair. When he reached them, he shoved them open with a shoulder and let them fly closed as he Apparated back to his house only to end up in front of the door.

Once he managed to bash the door open, he stared around the room. No one. Remus ran into the hallway, finding his bedroom door closed. With another bashing of the door, he entered the room to find Ginny holding a bloody cloth and Severus looking rather angry and in pain.

"What happened?" Remus asked, staring wide-eyed from one to the other.

"He's bleeding," Ginny muttered, folding the cloth and placing it to the side as she charmed another wet and handed it to Severus. He winced.

"Apparently someone still has control over the Dark Mark," he growled, bend low over his left arm, laying the cloth over it and seizing up.

"Let me see." Remus waited but Severus made no move to show him his arm. "Don't bother being modest, Severus. I've seen the Dark Mark before. I'm not going to say anything, but only heal it."

Severus glared up at him and removed the cloth that managed to soak through in blood in so little time. The Dark Mark on his arm pulsed black, blood running from the edges of the scarred area, outlining the skull with vivid red. Remus bit his lip and took another cloth from Ginny, wiping away most of the blood and ordering her to grab a bottle from the bathroom.

"Looks bad," Remus whispered, pressing the cloth down hard. "Does that hurt?"

"I thought you said you wouldn't talk," Severus growled. "Why are you out of breath?"

The running had only just caught up with Remus. He shook his head. "I just noticed blood on my sleeve and didn't realize it before. How long have you been bleeding?"

"I only noticed it twenty minutes ago," Severus answered. He winced again when Remus pressed too hard on the wound as he spoke.

"Twenty minutes? Severus -" Remus sighed angrily and waited for Ginny to return with the correct bottle. "This is going to sting, but you deserve it for not telling me earlier." Remus opened the bottle with one hand and scooped some of the pale contents into his hand, moving the cloth quickly and smearing it on. Severus' arm shook for a moment, but he did not say anything.

"What is that?" Ginny asked.

"A type of healing salve," Remus answered. He glanced at Severus. "You should know it by now. The one we kept using on you when this happened is the exact same type." Once it mixed in until blended, Remus pulled away, watching Severus' face. It remained carefully blank. "Better now?"

Ginny placed the lid back on the jar and excused herself.

"Did you get the potion ingredients?" Severus asked rather than answering.

"Answer me first." Remus crossed his arms. "Is it better?"

Severus glanced at the wound. The bleeding certainly slowed down. "Yes. Now, did you -"

"I did." Remus pointed at where he placed the bags when he first entered the room. Severus retrieved them, glancing through the contents.

"You managed to do something right," he muttered, closing the bags again.

Remus sighed. "Severus, I do plenty of things right. You just never bother to notice anything good about anyone else. If you're going to be happy here, you're going to have to learn to live with us."

A glare came from Severus. "I do see enough good in people," he snapped. "Is it a problem that I care not to point it out glaringly and appreciate mediocrity like the rest of you?"

Remus quirked a smile. "You agreed to coming, I hope you know."

"If I rejected, I would have been hounded by Poppy." Severus turned away from Remus. "I'll be starting on your - your happy potion," he muttered, moving the wheels of the wheelchair to steer out of the room. Remus let him pass and found Ginny returning a moment later.

"What's he doing?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Making the potion," Remus answered, stretching backwards onto the bed. His back still hurt from sleeping on the smaller chair. "He'll find anyway to keep at that for the rest of the day, I know it."

"How long does it take to make, then?"

Remus shrugged. "I've never seen him make it, really. He's always refused to let me watch. I doubt it takes too long, however."

"I'm going to join him, I think. You should sleep some more; you look tired." Ginny left before Remus could answer.

Remus closed his eyes and tried to sleep again, but the sounds of Severus moving around kept waking him. In the end, he settled for joining them in the other room.

Severus was glaring at Ginny, who looked shocked as she held a silver cutting knife over a plant.

"I'm perfectly fine around this!" she yelled at him, frowning. Remus remained out of the conversation.

Severus reached out for the knife but Ginny pulled back. "You said I could help, so I am!"

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"He won't let me cut the Wolfsbane because he thinks I'm going to kill myself with it!" she said to Remus, glaring at Severus. "I can do it myself!"

"I can do it," Severus snapped, finally grabbing the knife and using it to cut up some sort of bulb-like plant. Ginny almost snarled at him. "She knows it's poisonous to humans when brewed and I know she's going to try to -"

"I'm not going to kill myself with it!" she stormed. Glancing at Remus, she snarled at him, "I'm leaving. That's it. I can't stand that monster."

Remus reached out and grabbed her, keeping her in place. "Severus, I told you she wasn't going to do anything. Can't you accept that? Ginny, you shouldn't help Severus is he doesn't want help."

Both glared at Remus this time, so he glared back. "You're both going to need to agree."

Ginny muttered something that sounded like an apology and walked out of the room. Remus heard a slamming of doors soon after. Severus ignored it and continued cutting up ingredients.

"You should be thanking me for it," Severus muttered, placing the cut up Wolfsbane into a cauldron.

"I did. Thank you again, Severus."

Severus ignored Remus, too, and started stirring. "Trust me. By midnight, Miss Weasley will have done something stupid. It's usual Gryffindor behavior."

Remus shook his head and walked out of the room to follow Ginny.

Later in the afternoon, after Ginny decided to walk around outside and Severus wheeled himself off to the other side of the house to 'do something that you wouldn't care about, Lupin', Remus walked over to the kitchen where the potion continued to brew. It smelled horrid as usual, but he held his breath to look into the cauldron.

The funny thing was that it looked more empty than usual. Ginny returned soon after with an empty mug. When she placed it on the counter, she explained something about how cold it was outside and pulled out one of the books from Remus' bookshelf to occupy herself for a while.

_A Tasmanian Devil symbolizes self-defense, ability to use perseverance when needed, and understanding of knowing when to fight._


	5. Reunion

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates. Please do not sue.**_

_**Author's Notes: I'm so glad to have reviews on this! I'm glad some people are enjoying this. **_

Severus moved his wheelchair from the cauldron later on, turning to face Remus. His movements with the wheelchair still seemed rather jerky as though he was still trying to get used to it.

"It's finished," he muttered. Remus walked towards him, glancing into the cauldron. Certainly, the potion could not have smelled worse than before. Severus motioned to the cauldron once more, looking irritated, so Remus pulled out a goblet from a cabinet.

Once he scooped some of the potion into the goblet, he felt the smell worsen as though he had uncovered something new. It smelled bitter and rather like blood with herbs and raw eggs. Forcing himself to choke it down, Remus gagged halfway through and had to remove the goblet from his lips.

"Is it possible to make it worse tasting?" he asked, coughing.

Severus gave him a long stare. "Hurry and drink it. You'll need another goblet of it afterwards."

Remus had been in the middle of taking more un and choked again at the words. "Another one tonight? I thought the potion was only a goblet for seven days!"

"The amount needs to be raised," Severus replied, seeming to take joy in Remus' tedious task of drinking the potion. Remus was tempted to force Severus into drinking some to see how much he enjoyed it. "Your system had gotten used to it, so more is needed for the same effects. If you had taken this during the gap between the last usage, you would be drinking about six goblets of that a night."

Remus managed to get the last dregs out and made a face. He saw Ginny watching their argument with an expression nearing interest. Once he passed the goblet back, Severus refilled it, baring his teeth in a mocking smile as he passed it back.

"Is it that bad?" Ginny asked, leaning back in the chair, eyes wide as she saw Remus force himself through a mouthful even though his throat tried t repel the drink.

He nodded and gave Severus a small glare. Severus shrugged, eyebrows raised and looking triumphant. "It's for your health, isn't it?"

"The only reason you're making it is for yourself," Ginny growled at him, glaring openly. Remus felt very proud of her for a moment.

"Like I said, it helps his health, too," Severus answered, exchanging the same face with Ginny. "It benefits us both. Don't argue."

Remus finally got through the second goblet and placed it down, feeling rather light headed. "There," he whispered, unable to force his throat to let him use a higher voice. "Done."

"I'm not going to tell you how I'm proud of you and pet you on the head, I hope you know," Severus muttered. Remus bit his lip to stop from arguing and forced himself to be kind.

"Thank you, Severus," he managed. "I'm glad you're making the potion for me again. I'm wondering where your kind heart comes from, dear friend." Remus could not stop himself from lapsing into a sarcastic tone that made Ginny grin and giggle.

Severus glared, almost ready to strangle Remus before he realized he could not reach that far. "Lupin, don't play smart with me. I know what you're really thinking -"

"Care to enlighten us?" he asked rudely.

"You want to rip out my throat, just like twenty years ago!" Severus answered, raising himself on his arms and dropping down only after a long glare.

"I never tried to in the first place," Remus whispered, feeling the full shock of what the dark-haired man said to him. The memories of that night still haunted his dreams and increased his fear of an accidental bite or attack. "I never had a say in that prank -"

"You're the one calling it a prank," Severus growled. "You're admitting you're guilty."

"I would never do such a thing." Remus stared at the ground, seeing small patterns on the flooring and refusing to look at Severus. His expression was easy enough to picture: bared teeth, a wild look in his eyes, fingers clenched in his hands to form angry fists. "I promise you, I had nothing to do with it." He did not want to discuss the matter in front of Ginny, who stared at the ground as he did, trying to exclude herself from the conversation.

The night soon came and they all slept once more, no longer plagued by their dislike.

In the morning, Remus woke to find an owl pecking at his window, trying to shatter it. It seemed rather angry. Remus groaned and got up from the make-shift bed, feeling his back creak once more. In the beak of the owl was a letter, not a newspaper, however.

Grabbing it, Remus found the owl flew off quickly without so much as a sound. Once he managed to clear his sight enough to see the address on the letter, he saw a handwriting he did not recognize.

_Mr. Lupin,_

_I have been told that you are in close contact with Ms. Nymphadora Tonks._

Even after that paragraph, Remus felt his heart flip over and fall into the pit of his stomach. Why would anyone be wondering?

_She has been found._

Again, Remus felt his heart flip over, but this time it seemed to stop in the impossible moment of ecstasy and joy. She was alive….

_The Ministry had confused her, due to an unusual Metamorphagus ability -_

Remus almost growled. Unusual? The person sending the letter had to be the unusual one.

_- that caused authorities to believe her to be a known Death Eater. She is located at Azkaban Prison and is awaiting your pickup._

Remus found no signature on the letter. After turning it over once, he smiled to himself. She was alive. It took him less than a minute to scrawl out a note and set it beside Ginny before running out the door without so much as a cloak. The cold air whipped at him and snow managed to fall into his eyes as he crunched over the white blanket, but nothing seemed to matter.

He Apparated to the Ministry of Magic entrance, a red telephone booth in the heart of London. No one seemed to notice him, but he felt too excited to bother waiting out a long train ride to get there. Once punching in the code into the phone, he heard the female voice over him an answered her questions without thought.

Nymphadora was _back._

The front hall of the Ministry looked busy as usual and Remus did not bother to pin the badge he received to his robes. It stay in his clenched hand, wetting with sweat as he glanced around for someone, anyone.

A slender wizard stood beside him a moment, later, looking him in the eye. He had dark brown hair and looked a bit younger than Remus himself. With dark shadows lining his eyes, Remus could tell the man had been working extra hard with overtimes after the wall. Certainly, the Ministry had to suffer as badly as everyone else after all of the deaths.

He smiled a weak and tired smile. "Mr. Lupin? Come with me, I have to lead you to the Azkaban pickup. Merlin, no one has visited there for the longest time. I thought I was out of the job. Luckily, I got guard duty." His chest swelled and Remus knew for sure that he was a new recruit. "It's been hard, yes, but it's a good job." He glanced around guiltily. "Sorry, I need to bring you there. Forgot for a moment." His smile returned as he led the way.

The halls were filled with wizards, many of whom looked as though they did not want to be there. All had the same dark shadows under their eyes as the young wizard threading his way through them with Remus. Remus ducked from the dirty looks some people gave him. Obviously, the Greyback craze had not yet died down.

Once Remus caught up with the man, he heard him continue to talk. "I'm Julian Kentin, by the way. Right up here, now -" He managed to get between several men and Remus ducked past their arms, trying to figure out how the man could get through so many people in the crowds. "Just through these doors. I have to bring you in."

Julian pried open the door, entering the room and smiling at several people behind the desk. "Julian Kentin," he said to them before they asked. "I'm escorting Mr. Lupin to Ms. Tonks."

One of the woman, who was overweight with a long black braid, nodded him through, turning back to a book that she continued to write in.

Remus glanced around the room. Only one person remained in the room: a woman with short, brown hair and a pale, heart-shaped face. She glanced up one she heard the door swing close and a small smile took over her miserable face. Remus paused and ran over to her, ducking down on the floor low enough that she could reach out and hug him.

"Remus?" she asked weakly, pushing him away to an arm's length. "Oh, God, Remus…"

He noticed the hollow look in her eyes and the way her cheekbones seemed more prominent that he would have liked ever seeing her. "Nymphadora -"

Tonks took his closer again, hugging him tighter than ever. She smelled of dirt and something that seemed like icy winter that Remus knew came from being under the dementor's care for so long.

"What happened to you?" Remus asked, burying his face into his shoulder. He felt her shoulder shake as though with tears.

"During - during the battle," she whispered. "I panicked when one of the Death Eaters came onto me and I transformed into - into Bella." Shuddering, Tonks continued, "It was so that none of them would attack me as myself. I couldn't change back in the end, and the Aurors thought I was really her and took me to Azkaban with the rest of them. Sirius was right; there isn't a worse place in the world."

"I'm glad to have you back," Remus answered, standing up and offering her a hand that she took. Her cloak looked rather ragged and torn along the edges, so Remus took off his own and placed it around her shoulders. It was not in any better shape, but at least it had been patched repeatedly. She moved into its warmth.

"Need to sign here," the black haired woman muttered at the counter, passing the book over to Remus. He quickly signed his name. "You too," she added, pointing at Tonks, who signed under Remus' name. "Juls, dear, you too, you know it."

Julian, who Remus did not notice before, bounced over and sighed his name in a loopy signature. Once he nodded to Remus, the two of them took it as a sign to leave and Remus opened the door for Tonks.

"Let's head out." Remus glanced around the hallway, seeing how many people were in their way before grabbing her hand. "It's crowded. Always like this?"

"Yes," she answered, following Remus quickly. At the doors, he paused and she pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders.

"Do you want it back?" Tonks asked, motioning to the cloak. Remus shook his head and opened his hand, showing the badge he left in there before tossing it into a rubbish bin.

"Let's hurry and Apparate. It's too cold out to remain there." Once he opened the doors and stepped out, though, Tonks rested a hand on his shoulders.

"I haven't seen you in so long," she whispered, leaning close into Remus so that he could feel her warm breath on him and see every last strand of brown hair. She closed her eyes, looking almost in pain for a moment, before her hair returned to a bright pink color that lit up the room.

He kissed her.

Once they broke apart, Tonks slipped a hand into his hand and both Apparated out of the snow to the house. Before they entered, however, Remus frowned at the door.

"Ginny and - and Severus are with us," he told her, still staring at the door and ignoring the bitter cold ripping at his skin. He shivered once and gave her a small smile. "Better than Azkaban, though, right?"

Tonks gave him as small of a smile and a slight nod. Her hand moved in his, switching position to grip between his fingers. He opened the door.

Severus, still in his wheelchair, was watching over a limp form on the couch. Once he heard the door, however, he turned and caught Remus' eye.

"I was right," he muttered, moving away from the couch. Ginny's eyes were closed and her chest barely moved with breaths.

"What happened to her?" Remus asked, dropping down in front of her, tilting Ginny's head in his hands. Her eyes fluttered for a moment.

"She started complaining about how she couldn't get any magic to work," Severus answered, sounding bored. "Then, he fell unconscious. I know it's from Wolfsbane overdose. It's poisonous to average humans." He smirked as though enjoying his insults before catching Tonks' eye.

Remus felt for a pulse and found a faint one around her throat. Drawing back, he informed the others, "She's alive. I think she'll be fine soon. I mean, the potion itself isn't as bad as just Wolfsbane leaves, right?"

Severus jerked his head, looking angry. "Still -"

"She'll be fine," Remus answered. "Now, I'm going to try and fix up more room to sleep. That is," he said to Tonks, "if you're willing to stay."

She nodded. "By the sounds of it, my house was destroyed, too." Her smile looked rather grim. "I think the Death Eaters started taking joy in firing up houses."

She followed Remus as he moved into the hallway and frowned. "I have no clue where else to set up a bed," he muttered, rubbing his chin. It felt scratchy and he remembered that he would need to shave sometime soon. "Maybe I could set another one up in the extra room. It won't take long to clear out."

"What happened to Harry?" Tonks asked quietly.

Remus froze and remained silent for a moment as he entered the room, moving books around and setting up a bed that he quickly Transfigured. "He died," he whispered without turning to face her. He heard her gas clearly, however. "Burned. Died in the Hospital Wing. It - it was my fault -"

"Don't say that," she hissed and Remus knew she was glaring at him. "Remus, it's couldn't have been your fault unless you burned him yourself -"

"I was taking him for a walk." Remus' voice started breaking so he lowered it to stop from the change being noticeable. Showing weakness was a hard to him as it was for Severus. "He hit a wall and bled. God, Tonks, the blood -" His hands shook as he cleared his throat.

"It's alright," she added in hastily. "You don't have to say anything else."

"The entire Potter family is dead," Remus whispered, swallowing hard to keep the hard block in his throat from breaking his voice more. "James and Harry, now. Both of them were wonderful people -"

"I know, Remus," Tonks answered softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the touch. "It doesn't help to mourn, though. We can just remember them in peace. Do you need any help with that?"

Remus shook his head and quickly finished before turning towards her. Tonks had already moved away and closed the door.

"I haven't seen you in so long," she whispered, moving close to him so that they neared the bed. Remus watched her carefully but did not pull away when she circled her hands around his thin waist. Her head moved into his chest, fitting into the hollow beneath his collarbones and she smiled.

Remus fell backwards onto the bed, Tonks on top of him, kissing every part of him that she could reach. The time he had always denied her seemed to crash around his head as he saw the desperate wanting in her eyes as she neared his lips, finally kissing them slowly, almost hungrily. He returned it happily as he felt her tongue in his mouth, moving quickly.

In years, he had not felt that good.

"God, Remus," she whispered through kisses, moving her hands upwards to wrap themselves around his wrists and hold him down. He felt keenly aware that his sex drive would be heightened somewhat - part of the wolvish qualities he spent a night explaining to Molly about only a year before. However, he never mentioned that one.

"I love you," was the only answer he could give her. White teeth bit at his lips and she smiled, mouth changing the kisses unnaturally quick. She started shrugging off her shirt, struggling with her shoulders as they continued. Once it fell off in a pile at the edge of the bed, her bra soon following it, her hand drifted higher on Remus' pulling his hand up to her chest.

"Marry me." Her voice sounded almost choked as they kissed, starting to sit up. Once she said the words, however, Remus sat up completely, staring at her, forgetting everything.

"M-marry you? Oh, Nymphadora -"

"Tonks," she corrected, giving him a long kiss on the cheek, rubbing her nose on his skin, breathing heavily. "Please, Remus -"

Arguing never worked with her, he reasoned. And it was something both of them had wanted for the long time. The answer came from memory and joy of the moment.

"Yes."

Tonks giggled, leaning back into him, wrapping her arms around his neck this time, smiling widely. "Nothing beats winning a war and then marrying the best man ever." She planted a kiss on his lips, letting it only last seconds. He climbed off his lap after, sliding slowly and still staring him in the eye, laughter in her face.

They exited the room once Remus smoothed down his hair and tucked his shirt back into place and Tonks placed her shirt on again, blushing slightly. Severus still remained in the room, reading a book he pulled from one of the messy shelves. He glanced up once they entered the room and watched them carefully.

"Don't think I have no clue as to what you did," he snarled quietly. Remus felt his face burn but Tonks managed to give Severus an innocent look.

"What?" she asked, glancing at Remus. "We were fixing up the bed. It wouldn't stay up and kept falling on us."

The excuse was rather well-done, Remus had to admit, and tried to hide his smile. "Very painful," he added. Tonks nodded.

Severus continued to give them a dirty look and snapped the book closed, placing it on the table. "I'm not deaf."

"It was an old bed," Tonks urged, sighing. "Your mind is deep in the gutter. What did you think we were doing?" She grinned at Remus and pinched his cheek playfully. "I'll be back in bed. I haven't slept in days." Remus could certainly agree with that and let her go off.

Severus lifted the book once more but continued to stare at Remus. "What were you doing?"

"That's none of your business," Remus replied lightly, glancing at Ginny and sitting down on the chair across from her. Her eyes still remained closed and it started to frighten him. "Is she going to be alright?"

"While you two had fun, I made another potion that should help." Severus continued reading the book. Remus smiled at him.

It seemed impossible that only the year before, he had rejected her for so many reasons. They were married. Both knew they loved each other, but it had only ever been a matter of the situation - dangers, age, wealth. He remembered the problems between them and glanced miserably around the room. Nothing had changed, really. He knew he still remained a danger to him. He wasn't any younger, of course. However, Tonks seemed aged. Not physically, of course, but the woman seemed emotionally older. Remus had never considered her ungrounded or immature, but rather the sort of woman who would enjoy the company of the younger males. Maybe the war really did take a real toll on them all, no matter what.

Finally, Remus gave up and stood, earning himself a dark look from Severus. Snow blanked out the windows, turning them a frosty white. "Are you hungry?"

Severus gave him a disgusted look and said nothing. Remus shrugged and entered the kitchen, glancing through the ice box. Once he pulled out several items, he went on to make several sandwiches and set them on plates. At least it was something to do with his hands. He kept glancing around the door toward Ginny, who still did not move.

Ginny was depressed enough to try to kill herself with Wolfsbane…. Severus had already managed enough tears to cry on Remus' shoulder due to his inability to move, though he seemed to have forgotten the night already. Maybe he didn't want to remember. That seemed enough like Severus to not bother Remus to any degree. The scars marring his back continued to bother Remus, however. The man had never said a word about them. Tonks looked too much like Sirius after Azkaban. In all truth, she began to look like her Aunt Bellatrix without morphing into her. The gaunt face, hollowed eyes, everything. It began to grow on her too much for comfort.

And Remus knew that, he, himself, carried the scars of the past years. Voldemort affected everything. Everyone Remus had loved in his childhood died at Voldemort's hands, including the traitor, Pettigrew, during the battle.

Then there was Harry. No one had ever carried such a burden on their shoulders as he did. He married Ginny, in a way, much like Tonks had Remus. He never lived to make it real, though. To the dead child, he was still very much alone in the world. Remus wondered if he had ever realized how many people loved him. It was not the ones who cared about how position, but the ones like Albus, who died later in the war, the one who guided Harry from the beginning. Lily and James, who died first, who protected him from death. Cedric Diggory, who died too, helping Harry to win something that he knew Harry took pride in. Sirius, deceased when Harry was barely more than a child, had cared for Harry the way Remus had never seen love. And now Ginny, who lay dying, who wanted to bring him joy from the first day.

Remus quickly wiped newly forming tears from his eyes and walked into the last room he had been in, dropping a plate of sandwiches on the table and not saying a word as he left into the newly made bedroom.

Tonks slept sprawled on the bed, legs outstretched in every direction, arms curled under her head. Her pink hair stood out against the white blankets very clearly. All of the blankets had been piled on top of her and she continued to shrug down into them even while sleeping.

Peeling off his shoes and cloak that he had still not taken off, Remus climbed into the bed, shrugging under the covers as deep as she was. Once he wrapped an arm around her, she moved slightly and turned her head toward him. "Remus?" she murmured, moving closer to him until her breasts touched his chest. Her face showed a small smile until she fell asleep again.

He wished he could have fallen asleep there and never wake again to the nightmare of the world.

_For the curious, yes, I did use the same floor plan for Remus' house as I did in Miasma. It felt rather fun. I love that floor plan. _


	6. Recrudescence

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series, nor do I own the Internet or any of these sites. Deal with it. Please don't sue me because I'm only borrowing these characters without permission.**_

**_Author's Notes: Please remember that I'm updating as fast as possible. I have a life like the rest of you, and it doesn't allow too much writing time. Four more chapters. That's about another two weeks, possibly, depending on my schedule. It could be less._**

"How're we going to get news on anything?" Tonks asked later that day as she went through the newspaper that had been left forgotten on the floor. She seemed to find her obituary amusing and kept rereading it. "I mean, this isn't going to get us anywhere. No real news, just speculation and death."

"It's because that's the only thing we can be certain of for the moment," Remus answered, taking half of the newspaper and glancing through it quickly. Nothing. "Voldemort May Have Survived." "All Death Eaters Taken to Azkaban." Nothing. Just garbage.

"We're not going to get anywhere until we can find someone who can give us information," Tonks muttered, discarding the newspaper and glancing over at Ginny. They had placed a blanket over her for a while as she still had not woken. Remus started to wonder whether Severus told the truth about her condition, but could not ask him as the man locked himself in a room and refused to leave.

"The only way we could really get anything is to get it from the other side," Remus whispered, looking up slowly. He saw her head snap up as she glared at him.

"Remus -" There was a hint of warning in her voice, telling him that she would put up a good fight if needed.

"I could try Greyback's pack again. I know that they know more than us. It wouldn't be hard, either."

"Remus, if you go back, I'll kill you before you get through that door," Tonks growled at him. She bit her lip, staring down at her hands. "Don't - we don't need information too much. I mean, we're fine, right?"

Giving a sour laugh, Remus answered, "The world is breaking down because we have nothing and everything to worry about right now. Everyone is still dying even though we defeated Voldemort. It would be better to find out who's behind everything now and jus end it faster." Looking her straight in the eyes, he added, "I'm sorry, Nymphadora, but I have to go."

She slipped a hand into his again and squeezed his fingers, looking defeated. "Be back soon, though. Really soon."

"It'll take time to get there and convince them I'm with them." Remus grimaced. "I may need up to a month. I'm really sorry about it. They - they'll be wanting someone they can trust before saying anything to me. I know Greyback wanted to… to test people out before he even so much as speaks to them."

"He's dead, though," Tonks said aggressively, still staring Remus down.

"They're still going to try to follow him." He let out a long breath and pushed his hair from his eyes. "Just give me a month and -"

"Two days," Tonks corrected sharply. "I'm not letting you out for more than two days unless I go with you."

"I know how to deal with them." Remus squared his shoulders and stood up. "I'm going to try now. A week at the most, alright? I'll be back within that time." As Remus went over a mental checklist of things to remember to say and not say to the pack, he added, "And I refused to let you come. They would tear you apart in minutes when they figure out your human."

Before he could hear another word from her, Remus Disapparated to a forest many miles away. The forest seemed to familiar to him for comfort. The creeping coldness of the braches crept close to him and he could not help but shiver in the memories of the last time he entered the lands.

"Name?" came a sharp voice. Remus glanced to his side to see a woman standing there, about twenty, teeth bared. She wore near nothing - only what appeared to be a brassiere and torn shorts. Dark brown hair flew around her thin face as though she had never bothered to clean it. Smudges of dirt made her pale skin look darker.

"Remus Lupin," he answered, brushing some leaves from near his face in annoyance. "We've met before, Helen."

Helen gave him a critical stare for a moment, glancing him over. Her nose twitched once, as though sniffing him out, and she gave him a very small smile. "Remus. You're back." She glanced behind her as though trying to find someone else. "Good time. Fenrir's gone. We have no leader." Her sentences were kept short and sharp, much like a bark of a dog.

"I'm well aware of that, yes," Remus sighed. If he kept with Helen, he reasoned, he could return faster with news. Helen had always taken some liking to him. "Helen, do you know what's going on?"

"Fenrir is dead," she repeated, giving him a blank look. Remus saw that, up close, her eyes looked gold and large. Most of the werewolves had that small attribute, possibly due to their accepting nature of the condition. Remus did all he could to stay as far away from the color, though at times, he could not resist it.

"I meant as to what is happening with all of the attacks and deaths," Remus corrected. As Helen opened her mouth, a confused expression on her face, a twig snapped somewhere. "It's nothing." Remus reached out to stop Helen from running, but she grabbed him first and pulled him to the ground where their clothes soaked through with the residue of old snow. Helen shivered slightly and Remus whispered in her ear to calm her.

"There's no one there. We - you would have smelt them before." She shook her head.

"They have to watch us," she whispered in as low of a voice as possible.

"Who has to watch you?" Remus watched her face for some sign as to who she was afraid of, but heard nothing else from her hoarse throat. Finally, he noticed the small patches on her back, overlapping the scars, that marked wounds from spells. "Helen - do you mean wizards?"

She shook at the mention and stared him in the eye without speaking.

Remus closed his eyes, trying to remember everything he could about her. From what he got out of Kingsley, who researched a few of the werewolves for him, Helen had been bitten when she was near fifteen years old by one of the werewolves close to Fenrir Greyback. They took her and renamed her. What was her real name again?

"Aoife, who are they?" he hissed. Her head snapped around once, then back to him. Her real name seemed to have an effect on her.

"Wizards," she answered, nodding at him. "Like - like. They're bad people."

"Death Eaters?" he then asked. She nodded again and said nothing. "Aoife, are they doing anything to you?"

"Harm us," she answered, still looking around with a worrying look on her face. "They use those -" She paused, trying to find the words. "Those - wands. It hurts. Sometimes it - it makes us burn and -"

Remus placed a hand on her arm. "It's alright. I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm against them. All I need you to do is tell me what they're doing here and anything else you know about them. If you do that, I can get them away from you. How's that?"

Helen's face brightened slightly. It made her seem more human. She had a perfect build to catch every man she wanted, and a beautiful face, too, but the scars, yellow eyes, and sober expression seemed to ruin that chance. "They come to speak to Lyall. Do you know Lyall?"

Remus nodded. He had met the man the year before when he stayed with the werewolves. Lyall always remained near Fenrir, even when they explored the lands during the full moon. He supposed he had been the one to bite Helen.

"They want us with them. We can help them win the battle, they say." She shook her head. "I don't know. I never want to fight wizards. We're above wizards. Why bother with them?"

Resisting the urge to tell her that wizards felt the same about werewolves, he prompted her with, "Is there anything else about the war that they say?"

She opened her mouth again, still looking as though it took all of her energy to remember anything they said, but Remus heard a loud voice over them that silenced her.

"Unknown man!" shouted the tall man in the tree above them. "Ruining plans! Valentin! Here!"

Remus stared at, seeing a man with shaggy blonde hair and bright eyes like Helen's. He was built very strong, though thin, with powerful legs and even stronger arms. Even as Remus shielded Helen with his arms, the man jumped on top of them, almost breaking Remus' back. He recognized the man as Lyall, of whom Helen had mentioned.

"Valentin!" he called again.

Helen let out a scream and Lyall belted her jaw for it, stopping her quickly and forcing the screams into cries of pain.

"Lupin," the man greeted, smiling at Remus. His smile seemed rather friendly as if they had met over tea. "Welcome back!"

"Pleasure, Lyall," he muttered, unable to move from under the man's weight. "Who is Valentin?"

"You'll meet her very soon," Lyall answered. His fangs reflected the light rather like a creature of the night. "She's very nice to us. Offers to let us join her side once more."

More footsteps led to where they were and Remus managed to turn his neck enough to see Helen's bleeding face and frightened expression. When he looked in the opposite direction, he saw the woman approach that he assumed was Valentin.

She looked as Remus would suspect Severus would look like as a female. He could not help but think that as he noticed small parts of her face - the lank, black hair that hung down her back in a ratty ponytail. Her nose was crooked and large, like Severus'. Her eyes, however, shined a bright blue color and her skin seemed darker than Severus' would ever look. She had a thin and lanky frame that appeared rather boyish under the tattered and ragged trousers and cloak.

"Hello, there," she said to Remus, smiling coldly. Her lips appeared thin and blue from the cold, too, as though every part of her body was starved. "Name?"

"It's Lupin, from before," Lyall said for him. He bowed slightly to Valentin. "Miss, he's -"

"He's not with us. Is he with you?" she asked impatiently. Pushing Lyall off Remus roughly, she seized the collar of his shirt and dragged his upper body out of the snow.

"He was yesteryear," the werewolf replied, pouncing on Helen this time, who remained frightened and bleeding in the snow. "The he left. Greyback says he was -"

Remus, as Lyall spoke, made a small waving that he hoped Valentin would not see, so as to stop Lyall from speaking. However, Lyall did not seem to understand or was in a particularly bad mood.

"- said he was fighting with the other side one night when he got into Hogwarts." Lyall looked wistful. "I wish I could have gotten into there. So many people…" He sighed and stared at the sky, where the moon neared full.

"That's nice," Valentin answered in a sarcastic voice. "Lupin, then? I think I remember you. The Dark Lord had told me plenty about the Order of the Phoenix." She spat in the snow. "I know your name. Seeing as your side lost and I want to take pity on you, your torture will be short."

Remus squinted as he thought it out. Voldemort had died…. They won, not the death Eaters….

"Bite him, Lyall. Hard. Curse every part of him you want."

Lyall shook his head, making a face. "Children are better than adults. Adults are too… tough and bitter." When Valentin made towards him, he quickly added, "He's already been. By Greyback. Close to thirty years ago, maybe more. He was with out pack for a while, too, but he left a while later. I told you that, though."

Valentin dropped Remus back into the snow where he had to push himself out of the wet slush again. "Disgusting," she hissed, kicking his shoulder. Remus felt it pop out of place, but said nothing so as to not provoke her. "Deal with Helen. I can get the werewolf done." She glanced at the other two. "This werewolf, of course."

Lyall let out a dry laugh and grabbed Emily, forcing her to stand again as he dragged her out of the forest. Remus soon lost sight of them.

"Don't move," Valentin hissed, grabbed Remus' throat and taking her time in ripping his shirt off his body. She continued to wear a disgusted look. Once the shirt was off, she used a quick spell to freeze him before ripping his shoes off next and tossing them far off into the snow. "I enjoy the long term injuries, alright? And that doesn't just mean the ones with long injuries, though I suppose death is a rather long lasting one." Next went the socks, though she left his trousers on.

"Werewolves benefit out side, as repulsive as you all are. Biting certainly has a long effect. Now…" She circled him like a vulture ready to swoop on a mouse and cast small spells around his body. They left marks rather like the ones on Helen's back, burning through his skin though he could not yell. When she circled a few times and left at least half of his back burned black, she bent down to his level again.

"By the way, I'm Chastity Valentin. Nice to see you."

Remus saw her leave, though he could not move from the freezing charm. The snow started to creep into his skin, freezing him to the core. In his mind, he went over everything he had ever learned in his life about spells and how they wear off. Most only lasted an hour, he remember, and they all end once the caster dies. He doubted, though, that Valentin would be dead within minutes (though he wished it), and the chance of lasting an hour in the snow without half of his clothes seemed too low to think about.

After nearly ten minutes and going through his head again and again, Remus started to feel his fingers go numb and closed his eyes, trying to detach his mind from his body. It never worked. His eyes started to roll as he felt unconsciousness near.

Within another several minutes, Remus heard footsteps and gazed up. A woman walked almost drunkenly towards him. He recognized Helen, who was now wrapped in a cloak but looked a bit bloodier as the cut on her face ad not healed yet.

"Lupin?" she asked, stopping over him so that the hem of her cloak almost hit Remus in the head. He tried to speak, but nothing came out and his eyes were starting to water from the lack of blinking.

From the depths of her cloak, Helen pulled out a thin rod and waved it in his face, smiling. "I managed to get it from one of them," she whispered, voice sounded broken and defeated yet proud. "My Mum used to do magic all the time. I think I would be able to do it too, if I knew the spell." She cleared her throat, raising her eyes to the heavens to remember it. "Is it in Latin? I think. I remember Mum speaking in Latin. She had a nice voice. Erm." She broke off once more, staring intently at the sky as though it would rain down the answer.

"_Finite_," she whispered after a minute of thinking. Remus groaned as he felt his muscles loosen.

Sitting up, Remus rubbed his arms and shivered violently. "Th-thanks," he whispered to her, coughing. His jaw shook to the point where speaking seemed impossible. "Need - need to go. Thanks, H-Helen." He gave her a weak smile and grabbed his shirt and shoes from near one of the trees.

Helen breathed on his face for a moment, warming it with moist breath before she nipped his neck. Remus froze when she did so and realized that it was: a wolf version of comfort. He smiled and quickly Disapparated.

Landing in the snow again outside the door, Remus tried to fumble with the buttons of his shirt to put it back on, but his fingers could barely move enough to get the buttons through the small, frayed holes. He grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open, feeling the wonderful blast of warm air before sitting down on the nearest chair.

"Remus!" He felt hands on his arm and held back a hiss of pain from his frozen joints. A relaxing weight fell on the arm of the chair as Tonks sat down. "You said two days! It's hasn't even been an hour!" After rubbing his arm before, she added, "You're freezing! Cor, I'm getting you into a warm bath. What happened to your shirt?" She grabbed it from his hands and threw it to the side once she saw how wet it was.

Grabbing him by the arm, Tonks led him to the lavatory, setting him down next to her as she started the bathwater running as hot as possible. "What happened?"

"They - they have a woman n-named Valentin, now," Remus told her, trying to stop his jaw from moving with his shivers. Tonks moved away from the water for a moment to wrap him in her arms to heat him and breath hot breaths of air on him. "The Death Ea-Eaters have her. I c-could only speak to H-Helen, one of th-the werewolves." He shivered more violently than ever, his breath catching his in throat and he coughed before continuing. "The Death Eaters are - are trying to get th-them on their side a-again. It sounds l-like V-Valentin is their leader n-now."

Tonks nodded, biting his lip as she stopped the water and motioned for Remus to finish undressing. He flushed as he did so, and crawled into the water that heat him from every side, warming his frozen digits. He felt himself stop shivering and glanced up at Tonks, who ran her hand through his hair for a moment.

"They can't have another leader," she whispered, sounding defeated. "Are you sure that's what they meant?"

"I know that Helen talked about the Death Eaters getting werewolves on their side again. Valentin said something about us loosing the war."

Tonks just stared at him without saying a word. Remus leaned into the water more, covering most of his body with the heat.

"Did they replace Greyback, then?" Tonks asked bitterly after some silence.

"With Lyall," Remus answered, nodding. He paused. "He was the one closest to Greyback, I think. They were always the leaders, but Greyback could wrestle down Lyall. Has Ginny woken yet?" he asked to change the subject.

Tonks shook her head miserably. "Nothing yet. I think Severus lied when he said she would be fine. It's just his damn prejudices against her and her family."

"It was the news of Molly and Arthur's deaths that broke her down. If she had never found out about it, then… she wouldn't have bothered, to say the least."

"Stress," Tonks mumbled. "I wish this would just end. I always imagined everything to be happier after the war. Not so… dark and cold. There's no one left but us and the Death Eaters. Besides, Hogwarts is going to open again, isn't it? Ginny would want to go back, I think."

Remus shrugged. "Maybe not. We don't know until she says something and that isn't happening very soon. Besides, the Death Eaters are going to get into Hogwarts again and something else if going to happen. I know it."

"Don't say that," Tonks told him fiercely. "Don't say things like that."

"It's just what I think," Remus whispered, starting to get out of the water. It had started to cool and he felt warm enough. Tonks grabbed a towel from her side and handed it to him, turning enough to give him privacy.

"Maybe things just need to settle down. Once this Valentin notices she's already lost and lost once Voldemort fell, she'll stop. I should ask Kingsley to grab him something on her. He could get something in the Ministry files."

Remus nodded, wrapping the towel around his waist. Tonks held up a finger and left the room for a moment, returning soon after with a handful of clothes. Remus took them thankfully, eyeing his wet clothes warily as he placed the news ones on. "Thank you."

Tonks shook her head. "I'm going to Floo him now," she told him, leaving the room. Remus leaned on the counter as he buckled his trousers on.

Valentin seemed very certain in her plans. Remus searched his mind for the name, trying to think if he had ever heard of her before, but nothing came. The only clue he had of her identity was her name and what she looked like, which was starting to edge from his brain slowly. Traveling to his makeshift room that it appeared Tonks had moved plenty of his things to, he pulled out a scrap of parchment and a quill, sketching down the face before it left his memory for good. It seemed like good likeness to him, and it would work for remembering later on with the picture.

Tonks was checking in with Kingsley. Good. Remus remained out of the room, not wanting to disturb them, but instead tried to think out some sort of story. It was fully possible she had just been a Death Eater who held high hopes for her future and those of the other Death Eaters. Maybe Valentin was never a Death Eater, but supported Voldemort's views when he had been alive. Either way, Remus knew that she could only cause trouble during the time. The world had already fallen apart enough.

Tonks returned within minutes. "Kingsley said he's finding something right now. The Minister shouldn't be able to catch on to what he's doing; They're doing searches on everyone now, really. I mean, every last worker has had their file checked. I'm probably checked now. On that hand -" She glanced through the hall at a clock. Remus was about to tell her that he needed to wind it again, but she continued with, "I may need to check in with the Ministry to see if I'm still even working there. I'm almost hoping not. Kingsley looks dead tired from the extra shifts they have everyone on. How bad has it been?"

"Very," Remus answered calmly. Without another word, he opened the face of the clock and wound it up until the time was right.

"I'll be back soon if I'm off. If not, then -" She leaned forward on her toes and kissed Remus' cheek before loosing balance and falling on his shoulder. "Sorry." She smiled briefly and Disapparated.

Remus remained in the hall, staring at where she had last been. The world seemed darker without her pink hair.

A door opened and Severus entered the hall, looking rather disgruntled. "Is it gone?" he asked sourly.

"It what gone?" Remus asked, grinding his teeth.

Severus gave him a long look. "Don't play stupid, Lupin. Is she gone yet? She's an abnormal -"

Remus glared enough to make Severus snap his mouth shut. Remus suddenly felt a rush of gratitude to Sirius for starting Severus' fear of him. "What, Severus? Tell me, what do you have to say about her?"

"She's your slut," Severus answered, voice low and full of venom. "Abnormal slut and a creature. Perfect mix."

"Funny, Severus." Remus felt his temper go too far over and could not stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth. "I had the feeling that you were the one who sold your soul to Voldemort and remained his servant. I don't see what is so abnormal about her after you think about the fact that you're the one with 'traitor' stamped across you, for both the Death Eaters and the rest of us to see."

Severus' face whitened as Remus seethed. "That's it," Severus growled at Remus, moving his wheelchair around to face Remus properly. "I'm leaving."

Remus set out his foot in the way of Severus' escape. "Is Hogwarts going to take you back now to teach?"

"I'll find that out myself. My abilities -"

"I'm not letting you go until you're sure," Remus told him slowly. He started to feel guilty for his comments before.

"It's none of your business," Severus growled. "Let me go -"

"I'm not letting you go," Remus repeated. "I refuse to leave you completely alone. You have to admit that you need help with that injury. Not until you're sure will I let you leave." He moved his foot slowly from under Severus' wheel and let him pass.

"I'm Flooing Minerva," Severus told him shortly. "I'll be gone within an hour."

Remus said nothing. As much as he wanted to, he refused to apologize to Severus. It would provoke him to higher limits.

Severus threw the Floo Powder into the fireplace. Remus watched from the corner of his eye. However, when he started to say the name of the school, someone fell from the fireplace.


	7. Assailment

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series, nor do I own the Internet or any of these sites. Deal with it. Please don't sue me because I'm only borrowing these characters without permission.**_

_**Author's Notes: Edgar Allen Poe and Dawn of the Dead get a tribute here. Thank you, both of you!**_

**_I'm very sorry for the slow updates. Life has been a bit stressful, and I've been busy. I hope you all like this chapter enough to forgive me!_**

Remus took a moment to recognize the face of the boy who entered the room, coughing violently. The brilliant white-blonde head seemed red from caked blood and mud from a ground he had spent too long on. The robes, brilliant emerald with a silver snake border in honor of his Hogwarts house, had been torn and ripped almost beyond the point of recognizing the boy as the child of a pureblood, an aristocrat.

"Professor Snape," he greeted, coughing a final time and trying to straighten up, though he winced. Remus felt certain that the robes hid broken ribs. "I - I need to -"

Severus' eyes widened and he dropped the small amount of Floo Powder that remained in his hand. "Draco. What are you doing here? What happened to you?"

Draco Malfoy fell against one of the chairs, not even taking the time to make a face at the tattered material. His face remained screwed up in pain. "There's been an accident. Lots of accidents."

Moving forward, Severus grabbed the side of Draco's face and brought it closer to his own, looking him in the eye. Remus remained quiet. Severus seemed to be trying Occlumency, but something seemed to be wrong by the look on his face.

"Did they put any spells on you?" Severus asked quietly. Remus almost pointed out that it seemed obvious by the burns of spells over Draco's face, but Draco seemed to understand what Severus meant. Slowly, he raised a hand to his head and rubbed it. Severus nodded and pulled out his wand.

"I'm going to Stun you for a moment," Severus explained, letting Draco lean into the chair. "Then I'm going to try and remove the spells."

Draco nodded silently and Severus waved his wand slowly, almost gently, so that Draco's eye slid closed.

"Lupin, don't talk," Severus ordered. Remus bit back from saying that he had not been talking in the first place. Instead, he watched as Severus' eyes narrowed over the boy, watching closely, waving his wand and murmuring.

Obviously, Remus realized then, Severus was searching for something like a memory charm or anything that messed with Occlumency. He took a few steps back, not wanting to interrupt.

After nearly ten minutes of trying, Severus leaned back in his chair, sighing. "I don't think it's a common charm. It's not even one I know and I've been studying Occlumency for years."

"Nothing left?" Remus asked quietly. He had to admit, whoever preformed the spell had to be talented to get it away from Severus' knowledge in the subject.

"I'm sure I checked everything, Lupin," Severus muttered, sighing. His voice lost the angry tone he always kept with Remus, but took on a resigned tone. "I'll wake him." Another wave of the wand caused the boy to blink sleepily and stare up at Severus.

"Professor, I don't know what they did -"

"Can you remember anything at all?" Severus asked in a low voice.

"Just a woman," Draco answered, shaking his head. "All I can remember if her face and she sent them to take me out."

"What did they look like?" Severus asked, voice rising as though excited for an answer. Draco said nothing. "Well?" Severus shouted, glaring the boy down.

"Draco…" Remus walked closer to the two and looked Draco in the eye. Severus started to seethe at his side, angry at Draco for not answering. "Do you remember what she looked like? Take your time."

Draco gave Remus a long look, looking at him in distaste. Finally, he answered quietly, refusing to look at Remus' face, "She was - was tall. Black hair, light eyes, crooked nose." He shook his head and let his voice trail off.

Remus nodded and clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder gently. The boy shied away for a moment, wrinkling his nose, but stopped. "Good, Draco. Severus, I think I know who he's talking about."

"Who?" he asked, staring wildly at him. Remus almost laughed at the look on his face. If Draco had still been at Hogwarts, he could only imagine Severus' look at having his favorite student under a spell he could not break.

"Chastity Valentin," Remus answered simply. "She was the one with the werewolves."

"Is she one of them?" Draco asked, looking frightened. His face paled more than ever and he tried to move from Remus, but the grip tightened.

"No. She's just trying to bargain with them." Remus added nothing else, hoping to drive away from the subject. "You remember nothing of what she said?" Draco shook his head. Remus sighed. "Severus, I know that she's up to trying to replace Voldemort -"

Draco let out a small whimpering noise but fell silent only seconds later.

"She's going to try and replace him or something. She said that we'll be loosing this war." Sighing once more, Remus pushed his hair from his eyes. "Can you think of anything?"

"We should just wait it out," Severus responded. "Unless she's very dangerous."

Remus remembered her words and the bitingly cold snow. "A bit," he answered meekly. "I think it would be best to either hide from her or attack straight out."

Severus gave him a long look before answering slowly, "We're just going to have to attack, then. I've never approved of hiding." When Remus opened his mouth, he cut over, "No matter what you all believe, Lupin, I never said I enjoy shying away from them. I merely stayed in the shadows."

Saying nothing else, Remus let go of Draco and glanced at the fireplace. Behind him was the sound of cracking.

"Wotcher," came a female's voice. Remus glanced back and saw Tonks staring at Draco. "You're Lucius' son, right?"

Draco stared at her for a moment without answering.

"Aren't you related?" Remus asked quietly, glancing at Tonks.

She nodded. "Yes. Not too closely, though. What's he doing here?"

Remus could easily see the remnants of an old grudge in their family even though they never spoke to each other. "He came here to tell us something. We're trying to figure it out, though."

"Malfoy," she said in a commanding voice, "tell us what you need so that we can -"

Giving her a subtle push, Remus managed to silence her and tried to send some sort of message about how she should not start up an old fight, but knew he failed when she glared at him.

"A spell was put on him and we're trying to break through it," Remus responded. Tonks nodded and turned back to Draco.

"I'm the one breaking through it," Severus corrected, giving Remus a stern look. "I wouldn't trust you with anything relating to the mind."

Remus did not respond to Severus, but glanced at Tonks again. "We're not sure of what it is. However, he seems to recognize the person who put the spell on him."

"Who?" she asked eagerly.

"Valentin, the same one who was trying to rally up Greyback's pack. This is going to end up just like with Voldemort," he sighed. "We have to just keep a step in front of her at all times and that's it."

"It won't be too hard," Tonks added in, eyes growing wide as she checked through her robe pockets until she pulled out several sheets of parchment. "I found a few things on her. She's easy to figure out." Handing one of the papers to Remus, she read off of another one, "'_Worked at the Ministry in the Werewolf Registry. Transferred to the Vampire Liaison Office. Soon filed as missing after not appearing in public since a vacation in 1982.'"_ Tonks glanced up at Remus. "She seems to like that sort of thing. All of her records are in places like the Centaur Office, controlling magical creatures, all of that. She'll be after vampires now."

Remus glanced at the paper he had. The picture on it showed a woman with a fuller face than what he had seen her with. Her eyes looked wide and almost happy, though he could not bring that word to relate to her. A faint smile played on the moving picture's lips as she glanced to the side.

Once he handed it back, Remus said slowly, "She's specializing in Dark Creatures then? Do you suppose they've seen her already?"

"It's a possibility," Tonks answered, glancing at the photograph once more. "She went missing years ago. It's possible she just went off to join the Death Eaters and acted as their grouper."

Severus joined the conversation, voice low and slow. "I've seen her before." Tonks and Remus stared at him, waiting for more. "I've never known her by name, but I know that the Dark Lord knew who she was."

"She must have been a good supporter," Remus muttered. "I mean, she's gotten Death Eaters on her side now."

"They don't like her. They like her views only," Severus answered. He rolled toward them and ripped the photograph from Tonks' hands. "She supports the same thing as the Dark Lord. Her battle plan could not be more different, though. She thinks wasting time on real battling is a dreadful idea. Take the time to plan a good attack and win the first time."

Draco glanced over Severus' shoulder at the picture. His face contorted in an expression near fear when he saw it, and he backed away from the paper. Severus quickly handed it back.

"Don't - don't do anything," Draco pleaded, voice broken. "Please don't. She does horrible things -"

"No one cares what you have to say now!" Tonks hissed. Remus grabbed her by the arm and left the room with her.

Once the door to the bedroom was closed, Remus whispered, "Please, Nymphadora. You're going to have to be calmer with him."

"No," she answered simply.

"I'll leave you in here, then."

"Go ahead and try."

Remus sighed. "Just wait until he's gone, alright? He just needs to recover. She's a horrible woman. He needs time to heal."

She did not answer, so Remus glanced at once more and opened the door, leaving the room. When he entered back to where Severus and Draco where, he found Severus sitting next to Draco, who had fallen asleep.

"Tired?" Remus asked, staring at the boy. He cradled the blanket close to him like a lifeline as his chest rose and fell with deep breaths.

Severus glanced at him. His expression looked softer than ever before, and he glanced back at the sleeping figure, stroking a bit of hair from his eyes. Remus took a step back from them, almost ashamed of being there.

Hours later, Remus found himself sitting at a desk he propped up in the extra bedroom, glancing through every last sentence on the papers about Chastity Valentin. Tonks lay sprawled on the bed, glancing through a book she found on one of the shelves.

"Chastity Simone Valentin. Werewolf Registry. Vampire Liaison Office. Last seen at age twenty-five. Parents died when she was twenty. From what other people put down, she was quiet." He turned back to Tonks. "Was anyone you know working in any of those offices back then?"

"Kingsley's too young. Mad-Eye wouldn't have seen her. Amelia's dead. Only Scrimgeour himself, and I don't think it's a smart thing to ask him about any of this." She shrugged a turned a page. "No one I can think of who's still alive…."

Remus dropped the papers and turned his chair completely to face her. "Could that be it? She could be killing off anyone who remembers her so that no one can recognize her -"

Tonks sighed and dropped her book onto the bed. "Remus, I think you're obsessing too much. Get some sleep and ignore it, alright? We'll get to her when we get to her." Once she saw his face, she added, "It's not that I don't care. God, Remus…." She ran a hand through her spiked hair, raising it even more onto the tips. "God, you have no clue how much I care. It's just -" She hesitated and spoke slowly, as though choosing her words carefully. "It's just that we can wait until - No. With Voldemort, we acted, but we didn't hound him down in minutes after figuring him out, did we? We have to act the same. It worked last time."

Relaxing a bit in his chair, Remus nodded and glanced once more at the papers. Tonks sat up, tossing the book lightly onto the desk, where it hit a corner and fell onto the floor nosily. "We haven't seen each other in so long," she whispered, touching his hand. "And…"

Remus did not need to hear it. He stood up, sitting on the bed with her.

She cried on his shoulder for what seemed like hours. Remus could only sit there, rubbing her head, whispering small things to her. We'll be safe. We can make it through this. She hasn't had as much time as Voldemort. She's young.

By the end, Remus could only assume Tonks had dried out of tears. She clung onto him for a small while and he stopped whispering.

"I wish this damned thing would just end for good," she murmured into his neck. She looked beautiful there, body twisted as she leaned into him, eyes closed and reflecting the light on her eyelids. "Wasn't it enough before? We already lost everyone…."

Remus had no answer to give her. Nothing would comfort either once the thought was spoken. Dumbledore died. Sirius died. Harry died. They strongest protectors and best friends were gone and now it would start again.

Once she let go of him and let herself be tucked into the bed with her book, Tonks continued to read with defocused eyes, so Remus could tell that she was not paying attention to a single word in the book. He walked out of the room quietly, telling her that he would be back in a moment.

He entered the other room, seeing Severus holding Draco up by under the shoulders. His expression seemed rather blank, if not distressed. He shook Draco slightly, muttering under his breath.

"Severus?" Remus asked, moving forward into the light. Severus let Draco slump back onto the chair, laying him out neatly as though he were a rag doll.

"What happened?"

Severus did not answer as he smoothed Draco's hair back again and stopped talking. Finally, he glanced up at Remus.

"He's dead."

"How?" Remus asked, still staring at the boy. He had not yet moved, and he felt sure that Severus was not lying to him.

"He's dead! Isn't that enough?" Severus growled. Remus remained silent. A moment later, he added in a whisper, "I think his lungs crashed down. I can't tell yet. It may have been after effects from the curses."

Remus paused and watched Severus as he glanced back down. He did not appear as depressed as many would, but Remus saw the differences. No biting insults, no angry glint in his eye. Just a normal human, torn apart by a war and a dead child in his arms that he cared for for seven years.

"I- I think we ought to bury him," Remus whispered. Severus moved out of the way, allowing Remus to carry Draco off the chair. The boy seemed surprisingly light and cold in his arms. He could think of nothing to say, and felt almost relieved when Severus broke the silence.

"The spot in the back would work well."

Remus furrowed his brow. "You seem to have chosen the place quickly."

Severus smirked, but not in amusement. It was a sarcastic smirk that he seemed to anger himself with. "Lupin, you would not believe the number of days I've woken to choose the place I want to die in. I think Draco would appreciate this spot."

"Don't talk like that," Remus scolded, but with no real force. It seemed obvious that Severus would do so. His job in the war had been the hardest and he could have died at any second.

"Here," Severus said in a low voice, motioning to an area. Remus pulled out his wand, but Severus set out a hand and pulled his own out, waving it once. A pile of dirt moved to the side, revealing a perfect hole in the ground. Remus glanced at him and gently laid the boy into the hole, careful to keep his limbs in order. He took a few steps back, still staring down.

Draco looked like a sleeping man. He looked as though he could have had a family that cared for him and he had only been too young and in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two older men knew better.

Severus waved his wand once more, letting the dirt settle as though it had never been touched. Before Remus could look at him again, he saw that a gravestone appeared over the dirt.

It looked simple, with only a name and dates on it. Severus scrutinized it once more and added a snake to the top of it, curling around the script of the name. Then, he moved away without saying a word. Remus remained at the grave for a moment, raising his wand very slowly, and added one more line to the grave.

_My spirit not awakening, till the beam  
Of an Eternity should bring the morrow. _

He followed Severus back inside to find him already missing from the room. Not bothering to look for him, Remus returned to where Tonks was and told her the news.

Saying nothing, Tonks leaned into him again. "It's alright," he whispered. "It's from the last battle. I promise - he's the last one."

He could not quite bring himself to believe his own words as he whispered them over and over again to her.

Remus and Tonks saw nothing of Severus for the rest of the day, but only muffled sounds filtering through the door. Ginny left the house often in the time that she was awake and feeling well after the poisoning in order to visit Ron and Hermione in St. Mungos, where both moved either for treating or visiting. It had become like a second home to her.

Neither of them objected to the absence of their guests any more than they usually would have. The two of them spent their time together, either digging up information on Valentin or sharing more intimate moments.

One night, the two of them sat outside, ignoring the papers on the desk for once, and sipping cool draughts of wine that Tonks had picked up earlier. Both stayed close under a thick blanket and watched the starlit sky, the large and waxing moon spreading a light over them.

"One more night," Tonks whispered, looking toward the horizon rather than the moon.

"I know," Remus muttered, taking a sip of wine. His head had hurt for most of the day from the oncoming transformation.

"Are you going to be alright?" Tonks asked him. Remus nodded and said nothing. "Alright." She sighed and glanced up again. "It just seems too peaceful tonight for that to happen, you know."

"I've experienced that more times that you would have thought." Remus' eyes swept around the landscape, seeing the snow, glancing around the stars, until he saw Draco's grave again from the corner of his eye. Something seemed different about it, but he dismissed it as the snow.

Tonks seemed to have noticed, too. "Remus, was Malfoy's grave like -" She broke off. The air seemed suddenly cold as she whispered, "Why has it been dug up?"

Pushing her off of him, Remus stood up and glanced over at it. The dirt had been thrown over the grave, spreading in uneven piles as though the person who dug him out had been in a hurry. The footsteps onto occurred to Remus once he broke his gaze.

"Get in!" he yelled at Tonks, pushing her to the door. She hesitated and only moved when Remus forcefully shoved her into the door. She grasped the handle with shaking hands and opened it, still staring out at him.

Something grabbed Remus' back and he turned in time to grab the hands, twisting them enough to stop the person from moving.

Draco.

The boy's eyes seemed blank, filmed over with white, and the hands felt unnaturally cold and thin. Remus tried to say something, but his breath caught when he heard the strange grumbling and moaning sounds from Draco.

The Inferius version of Draco grabbed Remus' throat blindly, and Remus could feel every last freezing bone as he tried to break away. In desperation, he grabbed his wand and cast a quick charm that let out a small amount of fire near Draco's face. The Inferius threw himself back, making odd sounds of distress.

Tonks opened the door again, eyes widening as she saw the sight before her. "Remus! Get in here -" She reached out to grab him, but Draco beat him to the door, managing to grab Tonks, breath on her shoulder as he reached to bite.

Throwing himself into the Inferius, Remus stopped Draco from biting her just in time. Severus entered the room, wand out, wheeling himself as quickly as possible. "Draco -?" he tried to asked, but Draco bowled himself into Severus. Tonks whipped out her wand, aiming a spell at Draco, but not before his teeth dug into Severus' flesh.

Remus managed to get his arms over Draco, securing his jaw so that he could not bite at him. Tonks cast another quick spell, freezing the Inferius so that he fell limply from Remus' arms.

"What should we do about him?" Tonks asked, looking frightened. Remus traced his gaze to no Draco, but Severus, who was clutching his shoulder and wincing in pain.

"Kill me," Severus muttered through a tightly shut mouth. "Now. I - don't want - to become - one of - them."

Glancing back at Tonks, Remus found that her look was as blank as his own.

"Now!" Severus hissed, opening his eyes for only a moment. "Do it!"

Tonks shook her head and moved backwards into the wall, eyes still wide. Remus moved forward to Severus, touching his hand on the injured shoulder, whispering, "We can still try to heal it, Severus - There's always a cure to these. It just takes time -"

"Kill me!" he hissed again, and Remus saw that his eyes already started to frost over with the blank whiteness that took over Draco's eyes. "I don't want time. Just kill me and burn us! Serving that monster is worse than death could ever be!"

Murder seemed so much more difficult than Remus could have ever imagined. All he comprehended was the sound of the last breath escaping Severus' lungs and the stifled sob from Tonks.

Then there was the sliding of the bodies as they moved them outside. Remus could say nothing more when he watched the bodies burn, never to be controlled by Chastity Valentin again.

Ginny stopped by later, asking what happened to Severus. Remus said nothing, but merely stared at the floor, still in shock. Tonks managed to choke out a reply, keeping her voice as even as possible as Ginny's jaw dropped.

The story seemed much less emotional from her point of view, Remus considered.


	8. Endangerment

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series of affiliates. Please do not sue.**_

Ginny left the house, leaving Remus and Tonks at the table, staring at their hands.

"I - I suppose we have to figure out what to do," Tonks whispered.

Remus ran a hand through his hair, which neared a completely grey color. "There's no way to legally get into their ranks."

Laughing sourly, Tonks asked, "Do you think what they just did was legal, Remus? No one cares about legal anymore. It's just stopping them that we care about."

"Unless we use an Unforgiveable Curse on them, we can't do much. That would be sinking to their level. I'm refusing to do it, and I'm not letting you."

"I wasn't going to."

"Good."

"I have a different plan from yours that's not only legal, but painless."

Remus gave her a small smile, watching her closely. It seemed impossible to find such an easy way out.

Closing her eyes tight and taking on a pained expression, Tonks slowly transformed her nose into a much longer one with a thin bridge. Her eyes became heavier and her lips thinned. With another fluid movement, her hair stretched out and became a dark color.

After glancing at the finished face for only a moment, Remus stared at the ground. "No. Change back."

The change to her regular self seemed easier. "Why? It would work!"

"I don't want to see that face," Remus whispered. "Besides, it wouldn't work all of the time. You can't look exactly like her and you know that it hurts to keep your face that much different for such a long time."

"Polyjuice Potion?" she offered, frowning. "That's the best we can do. Drink some, get in, and done."

"Do you know how to make the potion? Do you know where we can get Death Eater body parts?"

"Stop being negative." Tonks sighed and leaned on her elbows on the table. "We can figure something out in the end."

"It's not negativity. It's the truth. There's always a downside to the plans."

"Not this one," Tonks answered, propping herself up again. "I can make the potion and I know exactly where to get the hair! I'll be back in a moment."

She Apparated from the room before Remus could say a thing. Leaning back in his chair, Remus sighed, waiting. He had to admit that her plan sounded as though it would work, but he could only imagine the risks. What would they do when something small happens - a gesture that the person would not normally make. A slip in accent. Anything.

Sure enough, Tonks returned only a moment later, holding several small necklaces. She handed one to Remus and grinned.

"As long as you don't mind being a girl," she told him. "Mum kept the necklaces that her Mum gave them. Aunt Bellatrix and Narcissa, and my Mum. Mum's not a Death Eater, though, so you get your choice."

Remus picked one of them randomly, opening it to find a small batch of black hair. He said nothing as he held it between his first two fingers.

Tonks laid down her locket without opening it and glanced around. "Do you have any potion ingredients? We'll be done with this in a month."

"The only ones are for the Wolfsbane Potion," Remus answered, standing up to open a door to where he stored them. The fetid smell of the potion reached his nose, and he frowned. "Still have to drink some for today." He reached out for a goblet and swept it into the potion, drinking it as quickly as possible. It burned at his throat again, making him move the goblet from his mouth as quickly as possible. He coughed slightly, wiping his mouth and continuing, "I rarely brew potions. I was never good at it. You can see if anything there works, or else I can buy some more."

"I can start making it now," Tonks said, pulling up a few ingredients. Behind the cauldron filled with the potion, she pulled an empty one. "It looks like you had a stash here that you never remembered. Lucky, that."

"It's late," Remus answered, pulling her arm. "I don't want you ending up doing something stupid. Get some sleep."

She merely nodded and let herself be dragged off to the bedroom. Remus pulled off his shirt, getting into a sleeping shirt with his back turned. Tonks took her time, dressing, looking distant and unfocused. Her thoughts had to be with the potion, Remus realized. He trusted her so much, but he knew that anyone could mess up the Polyjuice Potion, no matter who they were.

The next morning, Remus found himself alone in the bed. He reached over a few times, trying to find a shoulder or arm. Finally, he moved his head away from the pillow, yawning as he stood up.

He finally found her in the kitchen, frowning over a large cauldron. She did not turn before speaking. "I can pick the fluxweed tonight. It has to be at the full moon," she explained, giving him a sad look. "Your potion is over there, by the way." She motioned to the table, where a goblet lay out.

Remus managed to drink the potion faster than usual, too interested in Tonks' potion to notice the rancid taste. Tonks continued stirring the dim blue-grey potion as he looked over her shoulder.

"You remember how to make it by memory?" Remus asked curiously.

"Of course," she answered. "It's not as though I've never used it. Morphing can only get you so close to a person. I can only use it to create a new person or for very short missions." She moved her head slightly, kissing his cheek, but before he could say a thing, she had turned back to the potion, stirring more, counting the rounds under her breath. "Sure you don't need to sleep anymore?"

"I'm sure," Remus answered, watching the potion turn a deep violet as she added in some powder that he recognized as bicorn horn. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I don't think so."

After near an hour, Tonks left the cauldron, smiling. "It's going really good," she told Remus. "I think it'll be done exactly in time. The lacewing flies are stewing. That's the longest step. Only twenty-one days for it, though." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, taking her time. Remus smiled at her as she leaned in to rub his nose.

"How can we get them out of the way to get in?" Remus asked her.

Tonks gave him a small smile, halfway sad, halfway sneaky and mischievous. "They were captured and sent to Azkaban. From what I've heard from the other captured Death Eaters from the last few days, no one knows from their side." She snorted. "Takes them a while to notice what happened. They think the two of them are hiding from the rest of us."

"They ought to know better by now. Bellatrix would never stay away from another Death Eater or Voldemort himself. She's shown her loyalty enough already."

"That's why it's funny." He smile faded soon, however. "Remus, just trust me. Only they deserve Azkaban. It's dreadful. The Death Eaters sometimes aren't even bad enough to deserve such a thing."

Remus remember hearing almost the exact same words from Sirius several years before, when he found the ragged man in front of his door, disguised as a dog.

"I know, Nymphadora. I know." He tried to stop thinking about Sirius, but even Tonks' light grey eyes brought back the unwanted images. "Let's just concentrate on getting in there and back alive."

"It won't be hard. I promise," she told him, smiling once more. "We'll find out every last detail and destroy them from within without a trace."

It felt wrong to Remus. After being with the werewolves for so long, it seemed as though getting into the ranks of the Death Eaters or anyone not on their side was a mark of the traitor. It reminded him too much of Peter Pettigrew. He was in their ranks for so long. It seemed too obvious to Remus now….

"What're you thinking?" Tonks asked, touching his cheek to make him look down towards her face. She looked worried as she stared him in the eye. "Remus, we're not doing anything bad. We're stopping hundreds of deaths. You saw what just happened, didn't you? You were the one who had to tell Ginny to stay safe and not mess with anything. You were the one who told her that it's not safe here, and Ron and Hermione aren't safe. Nowhere is safe."

Remus remembered the long talk he had with the girl the night before, explaining to her everything Tonks had said. Her face started crumbling and Remus found himself with a crying girl on his shoulder, just like her mother, crying away everything bad. Crying seemed to be a purification act that no one had time for during the war. Now all of them were coming clean.

He realized that he had not cried yet. Maybe, sometime soon, something bad enough would happen to make him break down just like the others.

He hoped not. He always preferred the position of helping others over being helped. It felt odd to have his head on another's shoulders, a hand on his back, hearing words not from his own mouth comfort him.

Tonks frowned when he did not answer. "It's alright," she soothed, rubbing his cheek slowly, reassuringly. It felt nice to have someone hold him close again. She led him into the chair as he had so often led her into the bedroom. Finally, she perched herself next to him, cuddling close. "No more bad things are going to happen. This time, we're bringing them down for good."

Her small smile finally brought Remus to tears.

The night of the full moon came before Remus could think about it. He took a final dose of Wolfsbane Potion, knowing that some day, the amount would have to increase until it could no longer stop him. He gave Tonks a small smile as he walked into the hall, about to open a door that he had never shown anyone there but Sirius.

"Don't," Tonks told him simply. "You have the potion. Just stay out here. It'll be easier."

"I can always just - I mean, if you don't feel comfortable around -"

"I've told you a million times," she told him slowly. "I _don't_ give a damn. You're wonderful, and I'm not afraid. I would never be afraid of you." Her face looked shockingly like Sirius' now, her expression the same as the one Sirius wore when he confronted Remus about the curse.

He gave her a nervous look, but Tonks smiled at him, pointing to the bedroom door. "Just get ready. I can open the door for you when you're done. Unless you want me in there…."

Remus gave her a small shrug and she followed him into the room, sitting on the bed. He sat next to her, feeling her soft hands over his body soon after, rubbing his shoulders gently. "It's alright," she whispered. She said nothing else. Remus recognized the action. So many people he knew comforted him right before the full moon overtook him, but could never say much due to their own inexperience and unknowing.

He said nothing in response as he felt his bones pull slightly. He moved away from her touch, unable to deal with the splintering bones touching her. Once he pulled off his shirt, he tried to get his trousers off, but found his fingers stopping once he touched the belt. Pain whipped through his muscles as he felt them tear, hitting the bone and his own skin. The tradeoff of the potion was being able to stay awake during the transformation.

Tonks leaned in close to him, able to brush his splintering hands away from his waist and undo the belt. She remained staring at his eyes, a pitying expression in her own. Remus managed to close his eyes for a while, no longer able to open them during the transformation to see his body wither beneath his gaze and reform.

Finally, once he felt his body drop down on four legs that burned with pain, he breathed normally again. His lungs felt as though they had been ripped from the trachea and rejoined within seconds.

He looked up at Tonks, seeing her crawl off of the bed to join on his level. She smiled at him. "You make a cute wolf," she told him, never loosing the grin. Remus sat back on his back legs, lowering his snout to touch her hand. Hand jumping from the cold snout, she slowly reached back and dragged her hand through his fur.

"Nothing against it, but it's almost funny to have a husband who can do that," she giggled, uncrossing her legs and resting on her stomach to touch him nose-to-nose. "I always liked dogs. Well, you're not exactly a dog, but…"

Remus shook his head, feeling his neck move unnaturally. He found it easier to separate the possible canine movements from the human ones after over thirty years of the transformation.

Her grin came back. "I guess we have to work on the potion. I'll go add some things. Be back in a moment." She stood up, only to find Remus painfully stand on burning legs to follow her. "If you want," she said, letting him go before her through the door.

Having gotten used to the new smells he experienced in his opposite form, Remus found it odd that his sense of smell was the same as everyone else's during all but that one night. However, he soon realized why. That potion smelled _terrible_.

The ingredients were easy to smell even from a room away. The bicorn horn smelt rather like musty moth-eaten clothes, while the boomslang skin reflected it with a sharp, almost deserty smell. He backed away from the door, making a soft whining sound to say he would not go any further.

"I knew it," Tonks told him, smiling. "It's bad smelling, isn't it?"

Making another whine, Remus finally smelt the lacewing flies, slowly stewing. He let out a great puff of air, trying to ignore the smell. Something that he could only call 'wet', as many people could smell rain coming on. Acidic substance. A touch of something like pickle juice that had been ruined beyond belief.

She returned from the room after a moment or so, telling him something about having to grab a few ingredients before night was over. After bending over to kiss his snout, she left, the door slamming shut behind her.

Resting back in the bedroom, trying to keep himself from eying the bed that he knew he would shed on, Remus shut his eyes. He felt so tired from transforming, but the potion left him feeling strangely awake and unable to sleep. Finally, he stood up, giving up the temptation, and crawled into the bed. He had practice getting into the bed without the use of his hands, and managed to crawl under the warming covers.

His mind ran around in circles as he thought about the plan with the potion. They had the hair, they had the perfect reason to appear so late…. He hoped to Merlin that Tonks knew how to act properly around the Death Eaters because he did not. Could they have something to mark who was who? Would the Dark Mark transfer over to their bodies.

His whimpered again.

If they were caught, what would the Death Eaters do to them? Torture them? Kill them on the spot? He hoped for death over torture. He felt as though torture could not be quite as bad as what he had to put up with every month, but the sight of Tonks, screaming as _her_ bones cracked and splintered…. Even the thoughts of it made Remus shut his eyes in pain and try to think of something else. However much he tried, though, nothing came to mind to rid of the image.

He woke in the morning with a terrible headache and Tonks' arm wrapped around his shoulders. She looked a bit tired but smiled at him once his eyes opened.

"'Morning," she greeted, sitting upright in the bed. Remus yawned and tried to shift more under the covers. He felt amazingly cold without the fur or clothes.

"Good morning," he greeted, feeling his throat scratch as he spoke. Once he managed to sit up with his reluctant arms, he felt Tonks drop his clothes next to his arm as she crawled out of the bed.

"If you want to get dressed," she yawned, stretching out her arms in front of her like a cat. "There you go."

He gave an indistinct sound in response as Tonks pulled off her nightclothes and put on a shirt. When her jeans were in hand, he told him, without turning, "You're fine to get dressed now, you know."

Remus slipped the covers off slowly, pulling on his shirt as quickly as possible. He did the same with his trousers, never letting the blanket fall. Even after years of living in a dorm room with other people and then staying with Sirius and other Order members, he still hated dressing before others and meeting their eyes. The scars running down his arms looked clearly visible as he fixed the sleeves to cover them.

Tonks smiled at him as he turned to face him. She had already started pulling on a jumper, shivering slightly. "Do you feel alright?"

Nodding, Remus answered with a low, "I'm fine. You?"

Giving a small laugh that made her eyes crinkle, Tonks said, "I'm not the one who had to turn into a wolf for a night. However, I did get the rest of the ingredients for the potion. All that's waiting is the lacewings because they need to stew. They smelt worse than ever last night. It wasn't just you."

Remus let his nose twitch, almost grateful for his new lack of a canine nose. Everything seemed dulled down as a human.

"It's not much longer until the potion is done," Tonks reminded him, the smile creeping back onto her face. She climbed on top of the covers, careful to avoid sitting on Remus, and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her nose close to his face. She rubbed the tip of her cold nose on his cheek. "You're cut. Do you want me to -"

"I can get it later," he answered, wrapping his arms around her in return and leaning against her. He still felt exhausted after loosing so much sleep the night before. Groping for his wand at the side table, Remus grabbed it and muttered the quick spell as he pointed to his face. A tingling washed over him as the cut healed. With the back of his hand, he wiped away the small amount of blood from his skin.

"So, the potion's almost done?" he asked, glancing back up at her. "I'm still -"

"It's going to be fine!" she told him again. "I promise! I've done this so many times before…."

"But not with tons of Death Eaters."

"No, Remus. I've never done that." She leaned her head into the hollow between his jawbone and collar. "I'm scared about that, too."

Then, one day, Remus found Tonks grinning over the cauldron as she picked up two small lockets.

"Done!" she told him, giving him a kiss on the lips before opening each of the lockets. She handed the one with dark hair to Remus. He felt the warmed metal under his fingers as though Tonks had held it a long time.

She poured out both goblets and handed one to Remus. Before adding the blonde hair to her own, however, she poured out the cauldron into two flasks. Both flasks were incrusted with shining rubies and brilliant diamonds. Once closed, she handed one to Remus.

"Found them at…" She lowered her eyes and said nothing. Remus knew that she meant Grimmauld Place. "For holding the potion. We have to remember to take the potion, no matter what. Acting out of character is better than them finding out it's us."

She almost glared at him, grey eyes wide and serious. Remus nodded and added in the bit of black hair. The potion he dropped it into sizzled and became a bright red color, then died down to a dull grey.

Tonks added her own hair before she raised the goblet to Remus. She stuck in some of the hair into her own flask, hiding the beautiful jar in a bag at her side. Once she closed the bag again, she took a sip of the potion, paling as she tasted it.

"I can never get used to it," she whispered, taking another small sip. Remus managed to force himself to drink what he needed in one large gulp.

His skin started to burn lightly at first, a painful tickle, until it spread down his arms an legs, through his chest, like a wildfire. He did not know whether to curl up small or extend his limbs to rid of the pain. His jaw reset, heavier but more feminine, and his hair grew out long and became black in seconds. He felt rather odd when he became completely _female_, which is something he never wanted to experience again.

Once he managed to stare ahead again through heavy-lidded eyes, Remus saw that Tonks stood in front of him, though with long, blonde hair and brilliantly pale skin.

Tonks hid her smile, turning Narcissa's face into a strangely kindly face. "You're still dressed in your clothes," she explained, snorting slightly. "It's just something I never imagined I would see."

Remus glanced down to see the clothes hanging off of the female's form, draping differently than they had ever on him. After a moment, he glanced back up at Tonks, smiling. She opened the bag at her side.

"I took some of the old clothes. They'll look right." She handed Remus a dress, long and green, with silver markings near the hem. Her own was a light blue. "It's amazing what you can get from people related to you. It only took a few minutes talking to Mum."

"What did you tell her?" Remus asked as he quickly dressed out of his own clothes, trying his best not to look at the new body. It felt wrong to stare at a woman's body without her knowing, even if it was not really her.

"Just that I was trying to clean out some old trash that should have bee taken care of years ago," Tonks answered honestly. Once she smoothed the dress over her, she picked up the bag. "Are we fine to go?"

Remus stared at her for a moment and clasped her hand in his. It felt odd to hold Narcissa's hand, and he had to remind himself who she really was.

"Are you sure you want to come?"

Tonks smiled sadly. "One of these days, Remus, I'm going to ask you the same thing. Why do you always need to ask?"

"You're still -"

"A girl? Younger? Inexperienced? I'm fine. I can do it. It was partly my idea to begin with. Let's go. I think we could find them by nightfall. They'll take all day to find, but once we're there, it's alright."

She wrapped her hand into Remus' for a moment, squeezing, before letting go. "It took like we have nine days to do this."

Remus frowned at the sky. Nine days until the next full moon that would give them away. He cursed himself quickly for ruining the mission, but followed Tonks.

The door swung closed again, and Remus already counted down until the second he could return.


	9. Corruption

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates. Please do not sue.**_

Bitter snow pierced through their cloaks and Remus carefully drew his closer, feeling the bottom of the dress sway around his ankles. He blushed very slightly, not wanting to remember the form he was in at the moment. Once black hair whipped him in the face, however, he found himself drawing it back into a sort of ponytail in his hand as he had seen Ginny and Hermione do as they studied.

Tonks slowed down for a moment, glancing at Remus. "It's not too bad," she told him.

"Says the woman who is used to changing every few seconds," Remus answered, letting go of his hair and letting it fall around his face again. He could see the dark shadow above his eyes from where his heavier lids fell as though a curtain fell over his head.

She grinned. "Well, it was never easy for me, either. I trip over everything now because I can't remember where I put everything." She waved her arms in a theatrical gesture.

Remus found his own lips curling into a smile. "In fact..." Tonks screwed up the pale face she wore like usual, concentrating as hard as possible.

Her hair became a vivid pink.

Remus drew a finger to her ear, bouncing a lock of the hair on his finger. "You can still transform with the potion?"

Shrugging, Tonks answered. "I ought to change it back. Hopefully I won't keep changing while we're there."

"I thought you -"

"Had complete power over it?" Tonks shook her head, smiling as though it were an easy answer. "Remember last year? I couldn't morph. Most emotions do that. I just have to keep neutral."

Remus tried to imagine Tonks acting neutral and unemotional, but failed miserably.

"Do you have any idea where to look?" Tonks asked, glancing around them.

"With the other werewolves," Remus answered simply. "If we go there, I'm sure they'll tell us." He raised the sleeve of his robes, exposing a Dark Mark on his arm. He grimaced when he saw it, too used to the design from all the times he had seen it over houses of friends.

Tonks looked away from the marred arm and nodded toward a tree. Remus took her hand in his, feeling her elbow turn to allow her to grasp him. In seconds, Remus found them both in a dimly lit forest. He had not seen the portion of it that they were in for nearly a year, or since Dumbledore died.

A light grey tree stood before them, tall and magnificent as the bare branches filtered the sunlight. Around the tree were other trees, all tall and beautiful. A single ray of light fell onto Tonks' face, making her eyes stand out strangely.

"They'll be over there," Remus told her, letting go and leading her toward an area to the side.

A hollowed out rock marked the entrance to the cave that the werewolves used to live in most of the time. Remus motioned to it, facing Tonks. "I'll go in first. Just follow me."

Sliding down into the opening, Remus got his head through the cracks in the stone, first, glancing in. No one seemed to notice him out of the several people walking around. He turned and got his feet through first, trying to grab the openings to stop from sliding.

Once inside, Remus felt his feet hit the ground a foot or so below where he reached before. Tonks was already entering, feet visible in the dim glow of the fires inside. Surprisingly, the place seemed warm even without the addition of fires.

"Thanks," she whispered, but Remus placed a finger to his lips, giving her a small smile. He turned and glanced around. One person walked in front of him, not seeming to notice Remus until he did a double-take.

"She's back," mouthed the werewolf, eyes widening as he sprinted out of the way. From the echoing footsteps, the other werewolves glanced at the commotion and started getting away from Remus and Tonks.

"The Dark Mark certainly seemed persuasive," Tonks muttered, pulling her sleeve tightly around her elbow. "Rem- Bellatrix?"

Remus saw the pained expression in her eyes as she called him by the name. Remus said nothing to her and instead reached out to grab the nearest werewolf, bringing her forcefully to his face.

He caught himself before speaking. Bringing his voice up to a feminine pitch and trying to pretend he had never seen the werewolf before, he asked, "Where's Valentin?"

"It's been a long time," the werewolf whispered. She looked no older than fifteen. Her dark hair seemed to be cut ragged and short, landing just above her chin. The flat chest and thin lips did nothing to make her look feminine.

"Where is she?" Remus asked again, careful to not raise his voice or hurt her. He knew that it would take that to remain in character as Bellatrix, but he recognized the girl so much and knew what she was like. She never deserved it.

Lorene. Fourteen years old. Bitten at the age of twelve. Parents did not find her. Greyback stole her and kept her with the others, a caged monster. She retained the attributes of some amount of civilization.

Remus had met her mother at the Werewolf Registry a while back. She was a proper woman, nose always facing the air, but a cool smile always on her lips. Lorene took after her so much.

Pointing her finger outside of the cave, as though through a wall, she answered in a hoarse voice, "She's with the others. Just on that side. Not far."

Remus found that the girl was shivering in his grasp and let her go. "Thank you," he whispered, stalking back to Tonks. Several of the werewolves growled at them. One of them picked up Lorene forcefully, dragging her to the side and tossing her against the wall, turning back to snarl.

Once they reached the cold outside again, Tonks whispered, "You were with them for a year?"

"They're not too bad," Remus muttered. He felt his face pale. Now that Tonks saw them, she would start with another infamous rant on how he should have mentioned it.

However, she said nothing and took on a faster pace with longer strides.

Sure enough, down just a bit, near where Remus knew the cave ended, there were several footprints in the snow. Remus glance up, seeing nothing in the trees. When he looked down again, searching for the opening, he saw only snow.

"Here," Tonks whispered, voice sounding rather harsh. Remus knew that she was holding back the rant so that the mission could be completed.

Behind a bush, Tonks pushed some of the snow out of the way and found a door-like opening in the dirt. When she grasped the top of the wooden grate, she pushed her head through, glancing in. Her arms anchored her down as she got through the opening, flipping over to land on her feet.

"Bella!" she hissed, switching to an odd voice quite unlike her own. Remus thought she did rather well with taking on Narcissa's voice.

He crawled in, letting his feet hit the floor with a small thunking sound. When he looked around, eyes getting used to the gloom, he saw only pale passageways, lit by torches in the walls. The look of the place seemed rather old and like the werewolves' den, though somewhat more modern.

"Here," she whispered, bringing him to one of the openings in the wall. From inside came a small, wavering sound, rather like people arguing.

"Are you ready?" Remus asked, running a hand against the back of Tonks' head. She touched his arm lightly and nodded.

"You?"

"I can't expect anything better, in all truth." He cleared his throat as quietly as possible, switching to a feminine tone like the one he used before. "Believable?"

"I've heard worse," she answered.

Remus pulled out his wand, frowning at it. He grasped Tonks', which had been in her hand, and used one to Transfiguration the other into a different wood style.

"I think those are right," he whispered, handing one of them back. "We'd give ourselves away, otherwise."

Then, he opened the door.

Candles on a table in the center of the room provided the only light. Several people sat around the table, glaring at one another. A woman at the furthest end of the table stood when they entered, face set and serious. Her jaw seemed more pronounced as she glared.

"Bella," she greeted, inclining her head slightly, never taking her eyes off of them. "Narcissa."

Remus froze. He felt as though she could see right through the disguise, able to tell who he was.

Tonks raised a hand slightly, leaving it in the air before Valentin's. When Valentin merely glared at her, she lowered her hand nervously, though her gaze never wavered.

"Might I congradulate the two of you on being able to find your ways back. We thought you were both dead." Staring back at Remus, still thinking him as Bellatrix, she added, "Not that we weren't amused by the thought."

Remus remained motionless, going through his head as to how Bellatrix would think.

"It would have been a pleasure," he replied, keeping his feminine voice up.

Valentin set her jaw again, narrowing her heavy eyes. Remus saw that, up close, her face was lined with scars from claws and spells alike. The clawed in ones appeared darker and deeper while the spell ones only grazed her face.

She was quick with spells, obviously. Animals, however, seemed to be a problem. Remus smiled to himself.

Valentin looked away from them, light eyes shifting to the corners of the room before she pulled out her wand and pointed it in Remus' face. He remained in place, not letting his heavy breathing be heard. It felt as though she really knew who he was….

"What took you so long?" she asked, separating her feet and squaring her shoulders. "You were called earlier! I managed to get the Marks to burn -"

Remus cut in as Tonks started to shift slightly. "We were captured," he answered, hand groping his own wand. "We managed to get out."

"How?"

"I would hope that you aren't bothering them," came a smooth voice. Valentin moved her head just enough to glance at the Death Eater behind her. His mask was on, making his face impossible to see.

"Get off of me!" she hissed, pushing the man's hand off of her shoulder and never looking away from Remus. She leaned close to him, voice barely audible over the talking of the Death Eaters in the back. "When I find out what you've done -"

"Nothing," Remus replied smoothly.

"Then how did you find us?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Remus raised his wand in her face, landing it right inbetween her eyes. She continued staring at his face, confidently speaking. "I knew you two were traitors. We're going to get rid of you the first second we can."

"Chastity -" Now the masked man sounded annoyed.

"You'll need to prove your loyalty - There are plenty others we still need killed! You can do it, you -"

By now, the man had pulled her back completely, letting her fall against the desk. However, she pounced back up, gripping his robes by the collar. Once she managed to glare at him for a moment, she raised her wand at him, stumbling back, and screaming, "_Crucio!_"

He fell against the floor, writhing as he cried out in pain. Remus forced himself to watch, to block out the dreadful yells. Tonks looked away, biting her lip.

"Now, then," she panted, turning to Remus. Her face contorted in rage again, and she glanced back at the man. "Shut it!" she yelled at him, then flicked her wand to end the spell. He panted on the ground, moaning as he crawled away from her. Valentin faced them again. "Prove it," she told them simply.

They glanced at each other nervously.

"A raid tonight," she explained. "We're short a man. I suppose two would work just as fine. It's with Potter's friends - that Weasley and the Mudblood."

Remus managed to get a sideways glance of Tonks, who's pale face went even paler. Valentin seemed to notice and rounded on her.

"Scared of them?" she asked, bending close to Tonks' ear. "I know you're terrified of raids. Just deal with it. I can think of a hundred worse things to do, and that's just off the top of my head." She smiled, pressing a hand into Narcissa's blonde hair that brightened part of the room. "Tread carefully in my path. I don't believe I told you about your husband." Then, violently, she ripped out a long trendle of hair, letting them curl around her fingers as she smiled.

"No," she responded.

"Have I told you?" Valentin asked, pressing an ear against the pale face. "I demand an answer."

The voice sounded mocking and inhuman, gloating over a lost prize.

"No," Tonks repeated louder.

"Have I?" Valentin yelled.

"NO!" Tonks screamed back, pressing her hands against Valentin and throwing her away from her. "Damn it, you have not! I told you already!"

When the dark-haired woman's hands reached for her wand, Remus threw Tonks back into the wall, shielding her from harm.

"Out," he hissed, keeping his eyes on Valentin, who paused.

Tonks did not need to be told twice. She gave Remus a quick glance, eyes wide, then exited with room with hurried steps.

Valentin squared her shoulders and walked toward Remus, smirking. "Bella, I never thought you would be so protective of your little sister."

Remus raised his wand slightly.

"You know yourself that she was never cut up to be one of us. We should send her with the werewolves to get it over with. She amounts to about the same. Of course, I can't even get started on you -"

"I'm -"

"I think it runs in the Black family. Your last sister is as bad - What did she do again? Run off with one of them?" She let her back slide slightly, leaning against the air.

Remus remembered Andromeda for a moment, realizing that she was, indeed, related to Bellatrix. Suddenly, his pity increased for her. She had always been the middle of the sisters - middle-aged, pale like Narcissa, but with Bellatrix's dark hair, everything.

"Get out of here," Valentin told him, turning away. "I expect you here again, tonight at midnight. We're raiding. If you're not here…" She turned and twirled her wand innocently in her fingers. "You're going to be very, very sorry."

Remus stumbled out of the room, watching the floor beneath him rather than meeting the eyes of any of the surrounding Death Eaters.

Tonks leaned against the side of the doorway when he exited. "I'm sorry," she blurted out the second he reached her, but he just took her hand and led her further into the trees.

Before she could say a thing, Remus grinned at her. "I had to admit, Tonks, that was daring. Good." He ran a hand through her hair, still grinning, but forced his expression to sober. "However, we're -"

"Going to have to keep a low profile?" she asked, sighing.

"Exactly." Remus waved his wand once, forcing a soft buzzing into the ears of anyone around. He had learned it from Severus, of course, from the days of never hearing anything from him. Tonks glanced around nervously. "The hour's almost up."

"I want to get out of this body for a while," Remus sighed, shrugging his shoulders around. Everything felt wrong, weight in the wrong places, legs moving different ways. "Would you mind if I tried something?"

"Be my guest," she answered. "I hate this as much as you do."

Remus concentrated for a moment, forcing himself to use nonverbal spells even though no one could hear them. After a moment, the forest around them grew dimmer and the snow almost completely melted from where they stood and a few feet around.

"What was that?" Tonks asked, gaping.

"They can't see us," Remus answered. "Like a force field, but it anyone felt like tossing a spell at us, we'd be hit. We're just invisible to them."

Within moments which felt like eternity, Remus felt his skin crawl again unpleasantly. It escaped from the binds of muscle and writhed until it fell back into the for he recognized.

Tonks coughed when she finished, looking rather pained. Remus noted that her hair was a lank, brown color again, as usual. She winced and changed it to red, falling down to her waist.

Remus touched her cheek slowly, letting himself touch her skin and not Narcissa's. She smiled and leaned into him, touching his chest and sliding into the feeling.

"I hate this," she whispered, wrapping long arms around him. "I want to just go home. I wish we could."

"Really soon," he promised. "We'll be back very soon."

That night, after the moon had risen, plump but not full, and the stars shined in the sky, Remus and Tonks finally put down the charms around them after drinking the potion. Tonks only managed to slip her hand out of Remus' before they saw the time.

"I don't want to do this," Tonks whispered. "Hermione and Ron?"

"We can still save them," Remus whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "Just pretend you can't get them. No offense to you, but she thinks Narcissa's weak."

"Bellatrix isn't, though. She'll have known that she can kill easily."

"I can deal with it," Remus whispered. "Just do anything you can to resist."

Inside where they had been before, the two found a group of Death Eaters, wearing black robes and masks. Valentin met up with them near the front, mask still in hand.

"Here," she told them, shoving robes into their hands. "Put them on with the masks." Once both shrugged into the robes, she sighed. "And you both lost their masks, too? Pathetic. Nott!"

A thin Death Eater walked toward them, dark brown hair still visible under the hood of his robes.

"Fix that damn thing," she hissed, "and find two masks."

He gave off a quiet, growling sound before shoving the bit of his hair behind the mask. Walking off, Remus heard several more words from him that he cared not to listen to.

She pulled Tonks' hood down so that the tip of it folded over her nose. "Your hair is too bright," she scolded. "Hide it before I chop it off. And you -" She turned to Remus, kicking him near the feet, pushing the hem of the robes down. "Like that. Don't fold them up."

Nott returned, tossing the two masks at them and lifting his own up for a moment to make a rude face at Valentin's back.

"You all know where. You two, just follow," she added to Remus and Tonks. "Hurry up. We Apparate to the safe zone and walk the rest of the way. Remember the charms."

Everyone but Remus and Tonks paused for a moment and tapped their own heads with wands before they become invisible, though a faint outline betrayed their place. Remus quickly followed suit, getting Tonks before she could, too.

All but one of the Death Eaters Apparated from the room. The last one, Nott, sighed and walked over to Remus and Tonks.

"She's an old bugger," he muttered, gripping their arms. "Asshole, if you ask me. I'll take you there."

He gripped both of their arms before they said a word and closed his eyes, making a small movement. Remus felt his breath constrict as they Apparating, able to breath moments later.

The house before them looked the same as Remus thought it would look. Everything was set up rather messily, though there was the undertone of attempting to clean it up. It reminded him of Hermione and Ron together.

Valentin got to the door first, unlocking it easily. Once inside, Remus tugged Tonks to the side, giving her a warning look out of the corner of his eye. She nodded.

Charms fell off of the Death Eaters as they became visible once more. Nott pulled his mask off, though placed it back on once Valentin glowered at him.

"You may have lost your master," she hissed to all of them, closing the door slowly and quietly, "but I'm here. There's no need to slack off. There will still be punishment. Nott, I want you and you" - she pointed out several more - "to keep watch. The rest spread around. Lestrange and Malfoy will come with me." She jutted out her pointed chin in the direction of the staircase.

They followed her up the stairs, twisting around the pictures on the walls with Ron and Hermione grinning happily from them.

"In," she mouthed, pushing them to the door. Tonks unlocked it with shaking hands, entering the room.

Before she did anything, Valentin pointed her wand at an end of the bed, letting the post glow blue before lowering her wand. Then, Valentin shoved a wand from her pocket into Tonks' hands. "Kill the man," she hissed into her ear. "Now. We'll kill you if you don't."

Tonks raised her wand, ready to cast the spell. Remus saw the scared look in her eyes and the way her arms shook. Chastity Valentin raised a wand to the back of her throat and Tonks let out a strangled whine that could not be heard by the two sleeping people.

Remus knew that if she didn't, Valentin really would do something dreadful. Gathering up all of his nerves and breath, he yelled, without bothering with his Bellatrix-voice, "Hermione! Get up now!"

Hermione's head popped from the bed like a rocket and she flipped over. Ron's eyes flew open, too, and they both stared at Valentin and Tonks for only a moment before Hermione's hand gripped her wand.

"Out!" yelled Valentin. "Everyone out!" She moved away from Tonks, yelling, "Get them, Malfoy!"

Hermione was already sending a Stunner towards Valentin, though Valentin ducked it, running out the door. When Hermione turned her wand toward Tonks, Remus pushed her out of the way.

"Hermione, don't!" he whispered. "It's Remus and Tonks. We're Polyjuiced!"

However, the girl sent another spell at his head, forcing him to duck with Tonks to avoid it. They hit the end of the bed, finding themselves transported quickly, unable to stop themselves.

"Portkey," Remus muttered once he felt himself land. He hunched forward over the ground, looking blindly in the dark for Tonks' hand. "Nymphadora? Where are you?"

"She's not here, of all places," came a voice. "I mean, I'm standing here. I would think she's over there."

Remus glanced up, seeing the faint highlights that marked Valentin's face. She smiled at him, bending down so that her dark cloak made an even deeper shadow than those around him.

"I can easily see you are a traitor, Bellatrix. Really, though, it's Remus, isn't it? I knew there was something different about you, but I just supposed Azkaban had messed with you. Of her. It doesn't matter anymore, though. I heard you outside the door." She pinched his cheek slightly, twisting the small amount of flesh on his face tightly and letting go with a fake smile.

"I'm going to give you a treat," she continued, still grinning like a maniac. "You get to stay in a very special place. I spent half of my life there. It teaches you very well. I learned from it as a child."

Remus' eyes widened as he saw her point the wand between his eyes.

"It's a magical place where you can think. Not about rational thought. Rational thought hinders the ability to think imaginatively. That's what they teach you as a child. I was never taught it. In this place, you can think about anything. Rewards, consequences, anything.

"It's called a mind."

Remus tried to move away from her, but found that something had knocked him out of the way as Valentin yelled out a spell.

"Tonks!" he yelled once she got off of him, her own wand raised. Her blonde hair was already starting to fade away and replace itself with shorter, brown hair.

"Step away," she hissed at Valentin, standing up and moving closer. Valentin saw that her wand was across the room, at least twenty feet away judging by the skidding sound, and paused.

"Now!" Tonks commanded in a louder voice. "Get the hell away right now or you'll find yourself -"

Valentin, however, had managed to kick Tonks' ankles, making an odd, cracking sound as the girl fell to the floor, yelling. Valentin took the fallen wand from Tonks, summoning her own quickly and turning onto them.

"_Avada -_"

Remus threw himself onto her, twisting her shoulders back so that she was too choked to finish the spell. When she threw a punch at his head, Remus got the wand out of her hand, bending over her to straddle her arms and make sure she couldn't punch. However, her next aim went to his mouth, causing a scarlet spur of blood to fall into the ground. Valentin screamed.

"Tonks, go! Get Mad-Eye or someone!"

Tonks, however, bent close to Remus, stepping on Valentin's hand until the scream doubled.

"I'm not. I refuse to leave unless you do," she told him, wiping away the smear of blood on his face. She frowned. "You're not cut. That's odd -"

On Chastity Valentin's arm was a smooth cut, in the shape of a set of teeth.


	10. Cessation

_**Rising**_

_**By Dimgwrthien**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Harry Potter series or affiliates. Please do not sue.**_

Remus found himself in the corner of a cell, able to see things after the darkness. A dull throbbing behind his eyes made up for it however, as the brightness pounded into his eyes that had only gotten used to darkness.

"Remus?" Tonks whispered, voice strangely hoarse. Remus glanced over at her and heard the door clink shut again. Her throat bled, turning a vivid purple from bruises.

Moving from his spot, Remus grabbed her, holding her close for a moment, she tried to clear her throat, though Remus saw her wince with every try.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leading her to the ground, sitting close to her so that their knees touched and rubbed. Fingering the injured throat, he winced from what he could imagine to pain to be.

She only nodded, unable to say anything more.

Remus led a finger down the side of her face, brushing away the drying tears, whispering, "We agreed that everything would be fine after this. It still will be. I promise. I'm going to get you out of here really soon -"

"What - you?" she asked, closing her eyes as she spoke as though trying to force the words out. "What - about… you?"

He just looked her in the eye. To get her out would involve staying himself, unless he could think of anything really brilliant. His sluggish mind, grown even more so from recent fights, weighed down his choices.

"You'll get out," he told her, staring at the ground. He could almost see his face in it from the reflection of the lights. "You will."

During the day, Remus felt Tonks' head fall against his shoulder, her breathing easing up though still wheezy, until she fell asleep. Later on, rough hands grabbed at him, shoving him roughly through the door. He saw Tonks being pulled next to him, mouthing desperate words at him, though no one could hear his rasping voice.

They rejoined later, in another room, darker this time, though still able to be seen easily. Close to reaching her hand, Remus heard several footsteps behind him.

"Well, Lupin's back!" came a cheerful voice. Remus glanced around over his shoulder to see Lyall standing over him. He grinned wolvishly. "Welcome back!"

Remus said nothing, but groped around his pockets for his wand, finding it gone. He had never been so close to the werewolves without a wand. Even when on his mission, he carried it with him, though he never used it. Without the wooden wand, he felt defensless.

"Hello," he said quietly. Lyall bent down, still smiling. Remus found it unnerving how his expression never seemed to change. The others, however, all seemed to glare at him.

"Heard you were a traitor," he told Remus in a loudly joyful voice. Remus winced very slightly, and caught Tonks' eye. She frowned, staring away from all of them. "What happened? Try to sneak in or something?"

"Nothing went on," Remus answered calmly. One of the werewolves made a 'tsk'ing sound, frowning in distaste.

He felt too used to the expression, and the fact that it came from one of them made him feel even more ashamed. There had been the days that had settled into the back of his mind, when Sirius thought he was a traitor. He had heard small parts of conversations from when James and Sirius supposed he would not see them or hear a word they said.

Sirius would give Remus a sideways glance, the corner of his mouth twitching downward. "You know he's collecting," he simply whispered to James. It sounded odd to Remus, but James' line made it obvious.

"He wouldn't. He's not like that. You've known him for years."

"I know," Sirius would sigh guiltily, "but everything's twisted now, and you have to be careful."

James only shook his head and mumbled something. Sirius, giving Remus another glance, made an odd sound of disapproval to James and frowned, looking away from his friends.

"Get up!" Lyall said, bringing Remus to his feet. His smile never wavered. Sharp teeth showed against the vivid red gums. "We don't bite! Well, we won't bite you, at least! Your friend, there, however…." He licked his lips, disturbingly as he stared at Tonks. "She's a pretty one. Don't put it past the boys to not try."

"If they lay a hand on her, I'll hunt them down," Remus growled.

Lyall rested a hand on his shoulder, his smile finally dropping from his face. Remus saw that he looked worn and tired behind the mask, as well as stressed. "If you don't let them, they'll rip you apart." Glancing over his shoulder quickly, he yelled at the gathered werewolves, "Get back to where you were! You're not in your right minds and forms to do much!" Lowering his voice, he said to Remus, "Come with me. The girl, too."

Remus felt the strong urge to resist and bring Tonks away, but he grabbed her hand and led her gently on. Lyall continued to eye her, though not with the expression Remus would have expected - he looked suspicious.

Once they reached a secluded area, he glanced around once more, sniffed the air, and whispered, "They're tough out there. I mean, they'll go after her in a heartbeat. Se's a pretty girl," he added when Remus stared him down again. "Just avoid them. I'm no one to worry about, of course!"

Tonks glanced at Remus, and Remus could see the angry red lines around her neck. He frowned.

"I'm fine," she whispered in a hoarse voice. Don't worry, Remus. I can handle a bit of time if these people."

"They're not what they seem to be," Remus whispered, glancing at Lyall. "I'm sorry," he told the werewolf in front of him. Lyall shrugged and moved away slightly.

"Alright!" Tonks whispered, eyes widening. "I'm - fine! I will - be - good!"

Remus stroked her hair lightly, staring at her. He would die before ever letting anything happen to her under his nose or anywhere else. He felt rather like a father to her after having known her for so many years.

"I love you," was all he whispered.

Then came a bright light before his eyes.

When Remus in the morning, he found blood near his head and felt a throbbing pain somewhere behind his eyes, throbbing like mad.

"Tonks?" he whispered through cracked lips, looking around for a moment. Before him, he found her again, eye wide and staring at him. He almost said another word to her before he noticed that she did not move in response.

"Tonks?" he repeated, reaching out a sore hand to grip her wrist. Nothing. No pulse, no movement.

In that one moment, when he saw her face, he realized her true beauty. It was true - death did create beauty. Beauty was the manifestation of death. Wide, grey eyes shone in the dim lights, looking almost pale blue. Her skin, whiter than he had ever seen it, cast light shadows that made her look rather mysterious. Her hair, converted to a rich black color, shone in the light, making the deepest shadows. He supposed she had really inherited the black hair, betraying her lies from the year before - brown had never been her hair color….

He let out a small sound, only a whisper because he could manage nothing more. If the sound had been magnified, it would have revealed the molecules of the human soul, from the love to the pain and every emotion in between. He realized that, in that moment, there was no such emotion as happiness. There was certainly lust, and there was certainly some amusement, but no one could ever feel happiness. Whether it was the pain of the end of his world crashing around his shoulders like an uneasy ocean, or just a realization, he did not know. All hew knew was that Tonks had died.

"I had told you," came a soft voice behind him, "that she would need more protection from them. The sad part is, you're going to need it, too."

Remus turned slowly, still facing the ground, and saw the bare and dirtied feet of Lyall. The bottoms of his trousers were ripped and torn beyond recognition at this point, and he sported a blackened eye.

"You'll be glad to know that she put up a good fight. However, I believe I got to the best of her with this." He raised a bit of wood in one hand that he had hidden behind his back. I looked rather like the part of an old shack. He beat it into one hand with the other. "I got her good in the end."

Struggling to his feet to grab Lyall - tear him - anything, Remus found that he could not move.

"I had to get you a bit as well," Lyall told him in an apologetic tone. "You would have managed to put up a good fight, too." He circled Remus, lightly touching an ankle, causing Remus to see swimming blackness before him again. He resisted the urge to scream out, knowing that Lyall would only find it amusing.

"I never meant to," Lyall told him, fingering Remus' ankles for a moment. Pain shot through his legs repeatedly with every swing. "I told you - it was for her own good. I didn't want the others to get at her." He moved away from Remus, picking up the bloodied corpse. Gently, he pushed at Tonks' eyes, letting the lids slide shut.

Remus felt as though the memory would be burned into his head for eternity. The slow sliding of dirty fingers over soft eyelids that he had memorized so long ago. The way her eyes twitched for a moment as though she were still alive. The final time he saw her.

Lyall had already moved the body out of the room before Remus' brain caught up with his eyes. The werewolf returned, staring Remus down as he sat cross-legged across from him.

"I broke your ankles," Lyall said unnecessarily.

"You did a good job," Remus muttered, trying to move without the use of his legs. No matter how he dragged himself, though, the feet dragged on the ground and shot more bouts of pain through him.

"They hurt, huh?" Lyall asked pressingly. Remus turned his head up and stared for a moment without answering.

"Well," Lyall continued, glancing off into space. "I remember when you were here before. Fenrir hated you, you know. I think it was your father he hated. You look a bit like him."

"So I've been told," Remus answered calmly, still trying to move. If he moved fast enough, he could ignore most of the pain, but Lyall grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You have the same eyes and hair. Chastity hates you, too. I think everyone does now."

"What a reassuring thought."

"Not really," Lyall mused, apparently unaware of Remus' sarcasm. "That Helen likes you, though. She keeps trying to stop me from coming in here. Thinks I hurt you every time I do."

"You do, though."

"True." Lyall's mouth started to open into a grin. "She wanted to come in here. Chastity said no. Do you want to know what they did?"

"No." Remus stared at the ground. He did not want to imagine what sort of horror they could have inflicted upon the young girl.

Ignoring Remus, he told him the story in detail. "She tried to get into here once he dragged in the girl you were with. Chastity just pulled her back at first, though Helen kept on trying to get through. Finally, Chastity pulled out her wand and just used one spell. Helen started panicking, I don't know why though. Finally, he just died after another spell. It was really sudden, like that." He clapped his hands together loudly.

"I see," Remus muttered, feeling rather ill.

"She told me to come and finish you off. It took me a while, though," Lyall told him. Remus felt the blood drain from his face.

"Then kill me now," he whispered. "You've already killed everything I've ever lived for."

Lyall smiled. "I may have. Except, I wasn't sure what she meant by finishing you off. Physically? I could kill you right now. I could leave you there for a while. You could just bleed to death if you want. You may not have noticed that." He pointed out something on Remus' head, and he felt, noticing the sticky blood on the side of his face. So it had been his own blood on the ground.

"It would be easy. You'll be dead in a day or so. Or else, I could always patch you up and leave you for another few days. You never liked the full moons. It's not too uncommon for the ones like you to die a bit after a few transformations. I'll never understand that about you."

"It's called a sophistication of the senses," Remus muttered, resting his head on the ground again. Pain beat through him, an he hoped for the end, anything, to stop it. "It's a pleasure I'm afraid you'll never understand, Lyall."

Lyall smirked slightly and rested on the ground, head touching the ground like Remus'.

"There's another way to end it for you. I could leave you here for a while. Seeing how you look, I think you would die soon. You liked her, didn't you?"

"She was my wife," he whispered back, glaring at Lyall.

Lyall shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I was only protecting her when I killed her."

"From what, then?" Remus yelled, his anger boiling over all other emotions.

"From the rest of them. I said it before - she's a pretty one. They would be after her and kill her when they got bored. Would you have preferred that? I'll keep it in mind for the next time."

"There will never be a next time," Remus answered.

"Because I have to kill you?" Lyall asked, smiling again. "You're funny."

"I'm sorry for giving you the wrong impression, then."

Letting out a small laugh, Lyall continued. "Just a bit longer in here and you'll find a way of killing yourself, I bet. I could leave you to that. People think I'm stupid because I'm a werewolf. They think you are, too."

Remus said nothing but closed his eyes.

"I'm not though. I know what you're feeling. Right now you want to kill me more than you've ever wanted to. That's part of why I broke your ankles. So that you wouldn't, really. After you kill me, you want to kill Chastity and all of them to suffer for what they've done. You're angry and you're lost. You know you're about to die. You don't want to drag out that time, though. You just want to end it now rather than later." Staring at Remus through clear blue eyes, he whispered, "I could do that for you, if you want."

"I wouldn't want to break your orders," Remus responded, looking away.

"It's wouldn't be. It would be helping so many people. Chastity in her orders. The Death Eaters because they could win. You because you want it."

"I don't want them to win."

"But they will anyway, Lupin," Lyall responded. "Did you know that you're their last hope. No one else from your side has bothered to do a damn thing. None of them are coming. Some of them are even glad you came, not because you're helping, but because you're going to die. It's not fair, one against all of us."

Remus stared at Lyall, trying to put his words in a proper order. "They won't win," he whispered hoarsely. His head started thumping with palpable heartbeats and he closed his eyes again. "I just risked everything I cared about to get here, lost some of them, and now I'm going to win."

"How then?" Lyall asked. "I'm curious."

Remus tried to raise an arm but found he couldn't. "I just have to use my last hope," he answered. "I think this should be fought out properly. Verbally or physically, whichever you prefer. Just as long as we're equal in it. As in, if it's physical, I get full use of my legs or a wand."

Lyall thought it over for a moment. "I think physical," he answered. "I may be good at thinking, but I was always better at fighting. I think I can remember how to use a wand long enough to fix that up." He left the room a moment later, not returning until he had Remus' wand in hand.

Remus told him the spell to use and Lyall used it calmly, making Remus' ankles tingle with the warmth of a healing spell that he had grown used to over the years. He stood up carefully, leaning against the nearest wall before walking on his own. "Thank you," was all he said.

Lyall raised his arms for a moment, then let them drop again. "How are we fighting this out?" He threw the wand to the far corner of the room, staring at Remus as he did so.

"To the death," Remus responded. In the back of his mind, he wanted to lose.

Suddenly, Lyall jumped out at him, grabbing his throat and twisting it so that, with another inch, Remus' spinal cord would break. Taking the opportunity of occupied hands, Remus took both of Lyall's arms and forced them down, bending them back behind his head.

Throwing out his neck, Lyall started to bite at Remus' shoulder, and Remus felt some skin rip off along with fabric from his clothes.

The fight lasted what seemed to be years. Remus tried his best to counter all of Lyall's moved silently while the heavy breathing of the man distracted him.

With a quick movement, Lyall punched out and Remus felt his nose break. He winced at the feeling, but clawed back on the man. Lyall tore at Remus' face once, bringing half of his skin off on his fingernails. He backed away suddenly, watching Remus.

Face bleeding, Remus sunk to the floor, gasping for breath. He felt the raw sting of air on his skinned face, hating it and himself.

"You said to the death," Lyall whispered. "I think that's close enough."

Remus glanced up, unable to blink without upsetting an eye. His vision seemed foggy and disturbed, though he could still see the tall outline of the other werewolf.

"I'll see you sometime soon," Lyall told him, leaving the room. The door almost shut before he caught it again. "Let me take this." He grabbed the wand and left this time, the echoing of the door lasting in Remus' ears.

Before long, Remus felt his eyes water. When he did blink, feeling pain like a needle through his eye, he opened them again to find that he could see next to nothing. Light and shadow blended and he had to fall against the floor to stop from vomiting. Blood bubbled past his lips, constraining his breathing.

He thought of Tonks for a moment and wondered what they did to her. Did she have to suffer so much? Remus hoped she had it quick and easy. It seemed like the happiest way for her to go. She could have the chance at happiness, Remus thought, rather than spend the rest of her life with an old werewolf.

He remembered the veil that Sirius had fallen through. He knew he was dying. It seemed amazing how the Ministry thought they could bottle up the aspect of death in that one room, through a darkened arch. Sometimes, at night, he thought about what would happen if the Ministry had been wrong about that, and the veil had only ever been a veil that moved people, not killed them. Sirius could have been standing next to him.

It seemed amazing how the Ministry bottled everything up. There was love in one room. Remus wondered what love looked like. Pink hearts? A ball of light? Nothing? He decided that love had to look like a woman with a heart-shaped face and a hundred different hairstyles, all looking strange but spectacular.

He thought of how love and the veil could be one combined. Maybe death was the road to love. Or love was the road to death. Remus could not figure out which was his fate.

And, with that final thought, Remus' eyes closed, letting him see only black for a moment before he saw nothing. Pure blackness, beyond any black he had ever seen. It was nothing.

No one in the world knew of his death except for Lyall and Chastity, who said nothing more on the matter. Their plan started to succeed, sending the Wizarding World into some of the worst turmoil it had ever seen. All the rest of the Wizarding World knew was there was another death - just another number to their statistic. And, no matter how much they searched, they could never find Remus John Lupin.

_They say communication with the dead is possible. Others say it is possible. _

_In all truth, it never was. That's why people die. It's a way of saying goodbye forever, no matter what. There are no time limits to anything, no restrictions, it's just a way of leaving without a word._

_People only care about the things they lose. That's true. No one ever realizes how much the man that always stood in the dark corner of the room, smiling but saying naught, meant to them until he's gone one day. It's as though he disappeared off the face of the earth. _

_That's something Remus learned through several of his friends - James, Lily, Sirius, Albus, Nymphadora…._

_Quiet exits were always the easiest._

_Fin._


End file.
